Standalone device connectible to CCTV network

ABSTRACT

A standalone device, connectible to a CCTV network, includes an analog video input connector that collects input image signals corresponding to views from outside the standalone device, and digital image signal data corresponding to the collected signals are output. The device is connectible to an the internet-protocol network, and a transport control protocol packetizes the digital image signal data and controls addressing of the packetized digital image signal data. An address setting routine sets an internet-protocol address for the standalone device itself, permitting connection to the internet-protocol network. A self-initiating transmission initiating routine self-initiates a connection with the internet-protocol network in response to a triggering signal on an alarm trigger input. An E-mail message is assembled, including report information related to the triggering signal and digital image signal data, and is transmitted to an address via the internet-protocol network.

The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/865,904, filed Jun. 14, 2004, which is a division of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/204,289, filed Dec. 3, 1998, and claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/085,585, filed May 15, 1998,and U.S. Provisional Application 60/067,310, filed Dec. 4, 1997, all ofwhich are expressly incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an integrated camera for connecting tothe Internet and transmitting images over the Internet.

2. Description of Background Information

As the Internet (i.e., the worldwide inter-network, currently operatedunder TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) gainsmore participants and becomes more consumer-oriented, the demand forsimplified ways of providing access to various media increases. A largeportion of the new participants seek access to the “World Wide Web”(i.e., a hypertext-driven global multimedia system, hereinafter the“Web”). Archives of digital images (photographs and motion video) arenow ubiquitous. The demand for real-time or live video, whether motionvideo or still video, has different requirements, but has also becomestrong. Needs in entertainment, advertising, education, security,traffic monitoring, weather monitoring, child care monitoring, andsurveillance, as well as general consumer usage, have driven thecreation of an initial wave of systems able to place a real-time image,or series of images, on the Internet and on the Web.

However, the prior systems are complex and expensive, requiring the useof a general purpose personal computer and a host of peripheral devicesto place an image on the Internet or Web, as well as attendance by aqualified operator. The systems are typically large and lackportability.

An example of such a prior system is shown in FIG. 1. A video camera 110connects to a “frame grabber” peripheral card 112, hosted by theparallel bus 114 of a personal computer 122. The frame grabber card 112decodes a frame of an analog video signal from the video camera 110 intoa digital image, and makes the digital image available topurpose-designed software running on the computer 122. Typically, thepurpose-designed software eventually compresses the digital image intomain memory using the main microprocessor of the personal computer 122.In order to upload the image to the Internet, the computer 122 requiresa serial port 118 and attached modem 120, which are hooked to the publictelephone system 124. The personal computer 122 uses further softwareprograms running in main memory, which include at least a modem driver,network transmission protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) driver, a telephonetransmission protocol (e.g., PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol) driver, andan file transfer protocol (e.g., FTP: File Transfer Protocol)application, to connect to the modem 120, through the telephone system124, and to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) 128. Thereafter, thepersonal computer 122 may upload the compressed image to a shell accountavailable at the ISP 128.

Costs for such a system may run to several thousand dollars. Thecomputer 122 must be on-site, i.e., relatively close to the camera 110,and is large and relatively immobile. Since the system is an assembly ofgeneral-purpose components, and the computer 122 is usually dedicated toserving the camera 110, the system has numerous redundant functions andexcess capabilities. In particular, multiplemicroprocessors/controllers, power supplies, and communication lines arenecessary to operate the separate parts of the system. Moreover, suchsystems include many opportunities for error because of the manyinterfaces and communication links between discrete devices. Such errormay occur as difficulties in setup and configuration and incompatibilitybetween devices in operation.

3. Acronyms

The following acronyms and abbreviations are used throughout thespecification. For brevity, the definitions are summarized as follows:

-   -   xDSL—(generic) Digital Subscriber Line    -   ATM—Asynchronous Transfer Mode    -   CCD—Charge Coupled Device    -   CCTV—Closed Circuit Television    -   DNS—Domain Naming System, Domain Name Server    -   ExCA—Exchangeable Card Architecture    -   FTP—File Transfer Protocol    -   HTML—Hypertext Markup Language    -   IrDA—Infrared Data Association    -   ISA—Industry Standard Architecture    -   ISDN—Integrated Services Digital Network    -   ISP—Internet Service Provider    -   JPEG—Joint Photographic Experts Group    -   MIME—Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension    -   NTSC—National Television System Committee    -   PAL—Phase Alternating Line    -   PCMCIA—Personal Computer Memory Card International Association    -   POTS—Plain Old Telephone Service    -   PPP—Point-to-Point Protocol    -   SLIP—Serial Link Interface Protocol    -   SMTP—Simple Mail Transfer Protocol    -   TCP/IP—Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol    -   UDP/IP—User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol    -   URL—Uniform Resource Locator    -   USB—Universal Serial Bus

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an inexpensiveand efficient camera having all necessary functionality for transmissionof real-time and stored digital images to the Internet in a single,portable standalone apparatus (i.e., an embedded system), withoutrequiring the use of an external controlling apparatus such as apersonal computer.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a portable,standalone camera that may initiate and independently control scheduledtransmission of digital images to the Internet, where the images becomeavailable to any authorized user on the Internet.

The above objects are attained by providing an integrated Internetcamera for transmitting digital images to an Internet address, includingan image pickup, an optical system for forming an image on the imagepickup, and an image capturing circuit for capturing digital images fromthe image pickup. A network interface device connects to the Internetfor transmission of the digital image files to the Internet, and a filetransfer device communicates via the network interface device, with adestination shell account at a predetermined Internet address andtransfers the digital image files to the destination shell accountaccording to a predetermined file transfer protocol. The digital imagefiles in the destination shell account are then available to usersaccessing the Internet. A transport control device packetizes thedigital image files according to a predetermined Internet transportcontrol protocol, and controls addressing of the packetized digitalimage files to the predetermined Internet address, while a transmissioninitiating device initiates a connection with the Internet via thetransport control device and the network interface device. A firstscheduling device, including timers, schedules transfer of the digitalimage files to the destination shell account by the transport controldevice and the file transfer device. A microcontroller controlsoperations and communication between each of the recited devices, and acamera body houses therein all of the recited devices and themicrocontroller.

In another aspect of the invention, an Internet camera system fortransmitting digital images via the Internet includes a destinationshell account having a user directory at a predetermined Internetaddress and an accessing device for accessing the user directory of thedestination shell account via the Internet. As part of the system, anintegrated Internet camera is housed in a camera body. The camera bodycontains an image capturing system, a network interface device, a filetransfer device, a transport control device, and a transmissioninitiating device. The image capturing system captures digital images,and the network interface device is connectible to the Internet fortransmission of the digital image files to the Internet. The filetransfer device communicates, via the network interface device, with thedestination shell account and transfers the digital image files to theuser directory of the destination shell account according to apredetermined file transfer protocol. The digital image files in theuser directory of the destination shell account are then available tothe accessing device accessing the Internet. A transport control devicepacketizes the digital image files according to a predetermined Internettransport control protocol, and controls addressing of the packetizeddigital image files to the predetermined Internet address. Thetransmission initiating device initiates a connection with the Internetvia the transport control device and the network interface device.

In this manner, the portable, standalone integrated Internet camera mayinitiate and independently control scheduled connections to the Internetand transmission of real-time digital images to the Internet, withoutrequiring the use of an external controlling apparatus such as apersonal computer or server, and the images become available to anyauthorized user on the Internet. As part of a system, the portable,standalone integrated Internet camera may initiate and independentlycontrol scheduled connections to a destination shell account having auser directory at a predetermined Internet address and transmission ofreal-time digital images to the user directory, without requiring theuse of an external controlling apparatus such as a personal computer orserver, and the images become available to any authorized user on theInternet via the accessing device.

The network interface device may include a modem for connecting to atelephone system connected to the Internet. In this case, thetransmission initiating device includes a telephone conversion devicethat initiates a telephone connection with the Internet via the modemaccording to a predetermined telephone transmission protocol, and thatconverts between the predetermined telephone transmission protocol andthe predetermined Internet transport control protocol. Accordingly, theintegrated Internet camera may perform the recited functions over apublic or private telephone network, or any network or connection usingtelephone transmission protocols or analog data transmission.

The integrated Internet camera may include a second scheduling device,including timers, for scheduling image captures by the image capturingcircuit. Accordingly, image captures and image transmission may bescheduled at different times. In this case, the digital image files mayinclude information representing a status of one or more timers.

The integrated Internet camera may further include a character generatorfor generating textual information in the captured digital images,wherein the character generator generates textual information in thecaptured digital images. In this case, the generated textual informationmay represent a status of one or more timers.

The integrated Internet camera may include a serial interface adapted toconnect to a setup device, the serial interface receiving commands forcontrolling the integrated Internet camera from the connected setupdevice. In this manner, the integrated Internet camera may by controlledor configured by another device.

Optionally, one or more of the transport control device and filetransfer device further includes a network authentication device forproviding network login authentication for connecting to thepredetermined Internet address via the network interface device. In thismanner, the integrated Internet camera may access and transmit files tonetworks having security and authorization provisions.

The integrated Internet camera may further include a configurationdevice, which includes a configuration information retrieving device anda configuration setting device. The configuration information retrievingdevice retrieves configuration information from the destination shellaccount, while the configuration setting device sets operationalparameters of one or more of the image capturing circuit, the networkinterface device, the file transfer device, transport control device,the transmission initiating device, and the first scheduling device,according to the configuration information.

Further, the file transfer device may further include a directoryselecting device for setting and transmitting a destination directoryand filename for transferring digital image files to the destinationshell account, allowing the transmission of digital image files to oneor more specific directories of a destination shell account.

The image pickup may include a color component system for forming acolor image, in which case the integrated Internet camera may furtherinclude a color adjusting circuit for adjusting color properties of thecaptured digital images.

The integrated Internet camera may include an image compression circuitthat generates compressed digital image files from the captured digitalimages, so that the file transfer device transfers the compresseddigital image files to the destination shell account and the transportcontrol device packetizes the compressed digital image files accordingto the predetermined Internet transport control protocol.

In one modification of the system, the predetermined Internet transportcontrol protocol does not detect errors or retransmit erroneous data,thereby increasing a rate of image transfer by the file transfer device.

In another modification the integrated Internet camera further includesan E-mail transmission device and E-mail message assembler. The E-mailmessage assembler assembles E-mail messages representing a status of thecamera and the E-mail transmission device transmits the E-mail messagesto a predetermined E-mail address via the transport control device andthe transmission initiating device.

In this case, the E-mail message assembler may assemble E-mail messagesincluding the digital image files. Accordingly, the E-mail transmissiondevice may transmits the E-mail message including the digital imagefiles to a predetermined E-mail address via the transport control deviceand the transmission initiating device.

The integrated Internet camera may further include a trigger devicelinked to the camera and/or the microcontroller. In response totriggering of the trigger device, the camera initiates an image captureand transfer of the digital image files to the destination shell accountvia the file transfer device, the transport control device, and thetransmission initiating device.

Optionally, the integrated Internet camera further includes a videoinput for receiving a standard video signal, and the image capturingcircuit captures the digital images from the video input instead of fromthe image pickup. In this manner, a camcorder or other video source(tuner, CCTV network) may be used to supply the digital images to betransmitted over the Internet or otherwise.

In another modification, the integrated Internet camera further includesa video output for sending a standard video signal, wherein the digitalimage files are transmitted as video images to the video output. In thismanner, any images transmitted over the Internet or otherwise may alsobe supplied to, e.g., a local monitor, recording device, or CCTVnetwork.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is further explained in the description whichfollows with reference to the drawings, illustrating, by way ofnon-limiting examples, various embodiments of the invention, with likereference numerals representing similar parts throughout the severalviews, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art system capable of transmittingdigital images to the Internet;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an integrated Internet camera accordingto a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the integrated Internet camera shown inFIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of the integrated Internet cameraof FIG. 2 connected to the Internet;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a menu and parameter storage structureof FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an initialization routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a main routine of the integrated Internetcamera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an image capture routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an image transmit routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a disconnect routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an file transfer connect routine of theintegrated Internet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a telephone connect routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a write file routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a batch upload routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of a reporting routine of the integratedInternet camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 16A is a flow chart of a setup routine of the integrated Internetcamera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 16B is a flow chart of a command routine of the integrated Internetcamera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of an integratedInternet camera according to the invention;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an addendum to the menu and parameterstorage structure of FIG. 2 for the second embodiment of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart addendum to image capture routine of FIG. 8 forthe second embodiment shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of an integratedInternet camera according to the invention

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of an integratedInternet camera according to the invention; and

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a fifth embodiment of an integratedInternet camera according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. All of theelectronic, mechanical and optical components of the integrated Internetcamera 1 are housed within a camera body 201. Accordingly, in thecontext of this specification, “integrated” is equivalent to“self-contained”, such that all the noted components are supported on orsituated within the body or casing. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 1 maybe connected to the Internet via a network interface device 236(comprising, e.g., a modem or network card) and a connection cable 237(which may be a telephone wire connected to the public network or anetwork cable connected to a local or wide area network). Preferably,the camera body includes a threaded camera mount, and is sized andshaped to fit industry standard environmental housings for outdoor use.

A viewfinder 244 allows the operator to view a scene corresponding to,or identical to, an image formed on an image pickup (shown in FIG. 3) ofthe camera 1 via an image-forming optical system (shown in FIG. 3). Adisplay (e.g., an LCD) 218, preferably an inexpensive multi-line textdisplay, displays the results of user interaction, automatic reporting,and status reporting to the user. The user may input appropriatedirections to the camera 1 via at least a button/switch input 214. Inthe first embodiment, the button/switch input 214 preferably includes upand down buttons 214 a and 214 b, a “menu” button 214 d for switchingbetween and activating interaction menus, an “item” button 214 c forindicating a selection in an active interaction menu, and a releasebutton 214 e for initiating the capture of an image in an event-basedmode (including manual operation) and other specific functions(described later).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the integratedInternet camera 1. The camera 1 is preferably operated in an “always-on”state, i.e., although it may appear to an operator that the camera isunpowered when the camera is “turned off” by, e.g., an “on-off” switch,the camera 1 remains responsive to control signals and inputs even when“turned off”. As shown in FIG. 3, the camera 1 is preferably controlledby an integrated microcontroller 200, which includes: a main processoror microprocessor 201; a parallel (e.g., 16 bit ISA) bus 234 (whichconnects to components outside the microcontroller 200); a slotcontroller 202 (e.g., a PCMCIA slot controller) for controlling a slotinterface 232 (e.g., a PCMCIA interface) on the parallel bus 234, amemory (DRAM) controller 204 for controlling a general purpose (GP)memory (DRAM) 228 on the parallel bus 234, a display (e.g., LCD)controller 206 for controlling display functions of the display 218connected thereto, a real-time clock (clock/timer) 208 against whichtiming and interval functions are measured, a serial/IrDA port 210(e.g., serial interface) for connecting an external peripheral orcomputer (as a setup device or otherwise) with the microcontroller 200,interrupt controllers 213, and a keyboard controller 212 for scanningthe button/switch input 214.

The microcontroller 200 also integrates a plurality of general-purposeinput/outputs 219 (GPIO pins) and trigger inputs 211, each communicatingwith the main processor 201. As shown in FIG. 3, the GPIO pins 219 maybe connected to various inputs and outputs, for example, an audio input221 (MIC). Furthermore, the trigger inputs 211 may be connected toexternal triggering devices 215 (e.g., motion sensors or trip switches)which send an event signal—a “manual” release signal—to themicrocontroller 200 (as described below). It should be noted that theGPIO pins 219, since they may receive input signals, are capable ofacting in the same manner as the trigger inputs 211. One integratedmicrocontroller suitable for use in the camera 1 is the Vadem VG330, anx86 compatible single-chip microcontroller having the above-describedcomponents, available from Vadem, Inc., 1960 Zanker Rd., San Jose,Calif. The Vadem microcontroller may run under an operating systemincorporating the transport control protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) stackdiscussed herewithin. It should be noted that a microcontroller having alower level of integration may be utilized, with any of the above-notedintegrated components provided off-chip. One suitable microcontrollerwith a lower level of integration is the H8/3437 (available from HitachiSemiconductor (America), Inc., 6431 Longhorn Dr., Irving, Tex., 75063),used, for example, in combination with a Fuji MD8501 PCMCIA controller(with direct memory access), available from Fujifilm Microdevices Co.,Ltd., 1-6, Matsusakadaira, Taiwa-cho, Kurokawa-gun, Miyashi, Japan 981.

The slot (PCMCIA) controller 202 and interface 232, in combination, maybe configured to handle at least PCMCIA 2.1 and ExCA standard cards,supporting a network interface device 236, as described below, as wellas hot swapping and memory cards.

As noted, the display 218 is an inexpensive multi-line display capableof displaying character or text information, and of responding to thecontrol-of the display controller 206. The real-time clock 208 has bothclock and timer functions, maintaining the current date and time, aswell as responding to queries by returning the date and/or time,starting and stopping one or more interval timers, or returning thestatus of a given timer. The real time clock 208 may be set or resetautomatically or manually. If the user so desires, the camera 1 mayconnect to a server (e.g., via user port 13 of TCP/IP) to retrieve thecurrent date/time string, or alternatively to port 37 to retreive thenumber of seconds since midnight, Jan. 1, 1900, coordinated universaltime). Based upon these values and upon a time zone setting in thevariable groups, the current time may be automatically set.

The serial/IrDA port 210 is provided with one or both of an infraredtransceiver operating under the IrDA standard, or a serial interface(e.g., an RS-232C interface with a DB9 connector). The serial/IrDA port210 is connectible to a portable computer 216 or setup device via cableor infrared transceiver. The interrupt controllers 213 processinterrupts from, e.g., the keyboard controller 212, memory controller204, slot controller 202, serial/IrDA port 210, GPIO pins 219, triggerinputs 211, or the parallel bus 234.

The parallel bus 234 connects to: the microcontroller 200 fortransferring control instructions and data; to a compression engine 224for compressing captured images (further connected to an image memory220); the general purpose (GP) memory (DRAM) 228 used by themicrocontroller 200 as storage and application space; a boot ROM 230 forbooting the microcontroller 200 (i.e., self-test and O/S retrieval); acolor adjusting circuit 256 for performing image processing on a storeddigital image; a character generator 254 for superimposing textinformation on a stored digital image; and the slot interface 232. TheGP memory 228 is preferably at least 2 MB, and the image memory ispreferably at least 512K.

The compression engine 224 implements image compression in hardware,freeing the main processor 201 to perform other tasks. Preferably, thecompression engine 224 performs image compression under a JPEG standard,but may be alternatively arranged to output other image formats (e.g.,TIFF, GIF) and/or other compression schemes (e.g., Huffman, wavelet,fractal). When JPEG is used as the standard, the compression engine 224is able to encode, decode, and recode JPEG image files with any suitableJPEG compression level at 8-bit greyscale or 24-bit color (8 bit*3 colorplanes). Preferably, the compression engine 224 handles variablecompression levels on a continuous basis, e.g., 0-100%, but also may beset, for simpler operation, to compress in at least four JPEGcompression levels include low, medium, high, and maximum image qualitylevels.

The color adjusting circuit 256 is preferably a dedicated circuit forperforming image data manipulation of an image stored in the imagememory 220. The color adjusting circuit preferably includes: a coloradjusting (gamma) module for performing a color correction on the storedimage, e.g., to compensate for the color spectral characteristics(linearity) of the image pickup (CCD); a brightness module forincreasing or decreasing the overall brightness of the stored image; acontrast module for increasing or decreasing the overall contrast to thestored image; a scaling module for interpolating or resampling thestored image to increase or decrease the size of the stored image,including adjustment of an aspect ratio of the image and cropping of anyportion of the image; a hue/saturation/luminance module for increasingor decreasing hue, saturation, and luminance of the stored image. Eachof these modules may use a conventional algorithm to perform the desiredcorrection or function.

Although the color adjusting calculations are performed by the coloradjusting circuit 256, the color adjusting calculations mayalternatively be performed by the compression engine 224, or by themicrocontroller 200 in combination with appropriate color adjustingapplications, e.g., loadable from the NVRAM 242 into the GP memory 228.

The character generator 254, upon receiving a character string (e.g., adate and/or time and/or annotation string), generates bitmap charactersaccording to an internally stored font, and changes values of memorypositions in the image memory 220 (corresponding to colors of imagecoordinates within a stored image) to superimpose the text informationon a stored digital image. The character generator may be set to invertall the pixels corresponding to the bitmap character in the stored image(to ensure the characters are visible), or to change all the pixelscorresponding to the bitmap characters in the stored image to the samevalue (providing characters of a uniform color).

The microcontroller 200 is further connected to a serial controller 238(e.g., an EEPROM controller) having a serial bus 240. A rewritablenon-volatile memory (NVRAM) 242 (e.g., an EEPROM), preferably at least64K, is provided on the serial bus. The NVRAM stores system firmware,parameters, and applications for the camera 242, and is accessed by themicrocontroller 200 at least according to the boot ROM 230, e.g., whenthe microcontroller 200 is initialized. Alternatively, the NVRAM 242 isa persistent flash memory, which may be rewritten with a flash memorycontroller that replaces the EEPROM controller discussed above.Preferably, the NVRAM 242 stores at least: a user interface/operatingsystem application for controlling the microcontroller 200; an exposurecontrol application with automatic gain control (AGC) for controlling anexposure taken by an image pickup circuit 250; a transport controlprotocol stack for Internet access (e.g., a TCP/IP stack); a filetransfer application (e.g., FTP application); and at least one driver(e.g., modem driver, network adapter driver) for the network interfacedevice 236 connected to the slot interface 232. One example of asuitable NVRAM 242 is a serial EEPROM of the NM24cxx series, availablefrom National Semiconductor, Inc., 2900 Semiconductor Dr., Santa Clara,Calif., 95051. Further alternatively, the NVRAM 242 only storesparameters as described, while, e.g., the remaining software/firmware isstored in and executed from a separate ROM, which may also be an flashmemory (that can be updated with new software/firmware).

The transport control protocol stack, as controlled by themicrocontroller 200, packetizes all data transmitted under the transportcontrol protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) connection, and inserts headerinformation (including addressing information) into each packet.Accordingly, when the camera 1 is connected to the Internet via thenetwork interface device 236 under the transport control protocol, alltransmissions, including those of image files, are packetized andaddressed according to the transport control protocol.

As previously discussed, one example of a standard protocol which may beprovided in the transport control protocol stack is TCP/IP, aconnection-oriented protocol that offers error reporting, prioritizingof data, and retransmission of lost or erroneous packets. In this model,the TCP layer accepts and segments data streams and passes the segmentsto the IP layer for routing, accepts segmented data from the IP layer,resolves error conditions, and resequences segments as necessary. The IPlayer routes segmented data, resolves error conditions, and presentsdata to the TCP layer for resequencing. This kind of protocol is moreuseful for reliable transmission of data that must be correct, e.g.,transmission of specific still images, or for retrieval or reception ofa configuration file (described below).

Alternatively or in addition, a low-overhead protocol that provides noretransmission or error correction features may be used, e.g., packetscontaining image data or other data that fail an error check, e.g., achecksum or CRC (cyclic redundancy check), are discarded, and are notretransmitted. One candidate protocol is UDP/IP, which may be providedas part of the transport control protocol stack instead of or inaddition to the protocol responsive to transmission errors (e.g.,TCP/IP). This kind of protocol significantly reduces the overhead (e.g,a packet header contains less data) of the error-responsive protocols,and is useful for streaming images at the fastest possible rate.Accordingly, as described below, when the camera is set to stream imagesat the fastest possible rate, the camera may switch to a lower-overheadprotocol (e.g., TDP/IP) provided as part of the transport controlprotocol stack. Present models allow for a streaming transmission ofstill images of approximately 15 frames per minute under a low-overheadprotocol like UDP/IP.

Hereinafter, in all instances where error-responsive TCP/IP is used asan exemplary transport control protocol, TCP/IP may be replaced with alower-overhead protocol such as UDP/IP, especially on a connection whereloss of packets or data is acceptable (e.g., to reduce data overhead andincrease image streaming rate). Either of error-responsive TCP/IP orlower-overhead UDP/IP may be replaced by a successor protocol (i.e., anInternet protocol that succeeds error-responsive TCP/IP or low-overheadUDP/IP as a standard).

The network interface device 236 is installed in the slot interface 232.The network interface device 236 is a card (e.g., PCMCIA) such as, butnot limited to: an analog or digital (V.34, 56K, V.90, etc.) modem foruse on POTS lines; an Ethernet adapter for connecting to a standardEthernet LAN (e.g., 10BaseT) using the transport control protocol (e.g.,TCP/IP); an ISDN modem connectible to an ISDN terminal adapter; an xDSLadapter; a cable modem; an ATM adapter; a T carrier terminal adapterconnection; an adapter for satellite connection; an adapter formicrowave connection; an adapter for wireless connection; an adapter forserial transmission over a high speed external serial bus, e.g., USB orIEEE 1394; or an adapter for data transmission over public power lines.If a telephone-type modem (e.g., analog, digital, ISDN) is used as thenetwork interface device 236, a “telephone transmission protocol” (e.g.,Point-to-Point Protocol: PPP) application is provided in the NVRAM 242and may be appropriately loaded and executed by the microcontroller 200(e.g., together forming a “telephone conversion device”) when necessary.

The camera 1 includes an image-forming optical system 245, which formsan image of a particular scene on an image pickup (e.g., CCD or CMOS)248. A viewfinder optical system 244 allows the user to view the scenepassing through the image-forming optical system 245. Although FIG. 3depicts a viewfinder optical system 244 and image-forming optical system245 that share an objective lens, and in which a half-mirror is used todistribute light between the systems 244, 245, each of the systems 244,245 alternatively may be formed with dedicated lenses, i.e., the viewfinder optical system 244 and image-forming optical system 245 could betwo separate optical systems having separate optical axes.

Scanning of the image pickup 248 is driven by an image pickup driver 252(e.g., CCD, CMOS, or infrared pickup driver) connected to themicrocontroller 200 (e.g., via a GPIO pin or otherwise), which drivesthe image pickup 248 to scan and transfer accumulated image data to animage pickup circuit 250. The image pickup 248 is, in this embodiment,provided with a complementary color filter (e.g., a filter covering eachgroup of four pixels on the image pickup 248 with a two-by-two matrix ofMg, Ye, Cy, G filter elements) allowing the capture of a color image(e.g., a ¼″ color CCD). Alternatively, the image pickup 248 may beprovided with a mechanical field sequential color filter switcher havinga plurality of color filters successively movable in front of the imagepickup 248, and a circuit to assemble successive image captures takenthrough the different color filters into a full color signal.

Further, as noted above, the image pickup 248 may be an infrared sensorsuitable for generating a thermograph by known techniques. In such acase, the lenses discussed herein may be formed from infraredtransmitting material, e.g., chalcogenide glass, flouride glass, zincselenide, germanium, or silicon, and image processing circuitrydiscussed below preferably includes color translation routines todifferentiate infrared frequency gradients into hotter and cooler colorareas in a resulting thermograph.

The image pickup circuit 250 may includes conventional circuitrynecessary to assemble an analog image signal from the image pickup 248,including image processing circuitry to convert the image pickup signalto a luminance (Y) signal and two color difference signals (Cb—blue,Cr—red). As is well known in the art, a full color signal may besynthesized from the YCbCr signal group (e.g., 4:2:2).

The analog image signal is converted to a digital signal by an A/Dconvertor 246, and passed to the image memory 220 (e.g., a RAM capableof storing at least one high resolution color image) via the compressionengine 224. The compression engine 224 preferably integrates a memory(DRA) controller 226 for controlling the image memory 220. One suitableimage compression engine 224 integrating a memory controller 226 is theFuji MD2205B, available from Fujifilm Microdevices. A suitable imagecompression engine that requires a separate memory controller is theFuji MD36050X, for example, in conjunction with the Fuji MD0204 memorycontroller, both also available from Fujifilm Microdevices.

The microcontroller 200 controls the compression engine 224 to compressan image or images held in the image memory, according to attributesassigned to that particular image (as described later), includingcompression to a desired (e.g., JPEG) compression level. When aparticular image is compressed, the compressed image is stored, alongwith (e.g., JPEG control and time/date/message stamping) headerinformation, in a general purpose (GP) memory (DRAM 228 available on theparallel bus 234 of the microcontroller 200. The microcontroller 200also is capable of adjusting the resolution of images stored in theimage memory on a continuous scale with preferred preservation of aspectratio (although aspect ratio may be altered if necessary), either beforeor after storage therein (e.g., 640*480, 320*240, 160*120; 80*60,although any resolution may be set).

The camera 1 is further provided with an integrated DC power supply 217(e.g., 12 V), which provides power to all of the components of thecamera 1. The DC power supply may incorporate an AC adapter, but the ACadapter is preferably provided outside the camera 1 in order to reducethe size of the camera. In this case, the AC adapter plugs into aconventional AC outlet, and may be a “Universal” AC adapter connectibleto various worldwide AC supplies.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the integrated Internet camera isconnectible to the Internet via a telephone system 302 or local network316, depending on the network interface device 236.

FIG. 4A shows an arrangement for connection of the camera 1 to theInternet in combination with a modem as a network interface device 236.The camera 1 is connected, using, e.g., PPP (telephone transmission) andTCP/IP (transport control), to a local or remote ISP via a telephonesystem (or cable network) 302. A user D and password (i.e., networkauthentication) supplied by the camera 1 (via the initial login, asdescribed below) gives the camera access to a local shell account 306(shell #1) provided by a local ISP 304. In the context of thisspecification, “local shell account” indicates a shell account accessedby the camera 1 via a “direct” connection and initial login. The localshell account 306 provides access to a user directory, in which the usermay store HTML files, the compressed image files, user scripts,controls, and other files necessary to create and allow access to a Webpage.

Notably, the user directory stores compressed image files referenced by,or linked to, the Web page and viewable by any remote user using anaccessing device, e.g., a personal computer 310 equipped with a Webbrowser linked to the Internet 308. Once the camera 1 is logged in tothe local shell account 306, the camera 1 may upload (e.g., JPEG) imagefiles from the GP memory 228, according to controlling file attributesand destination information (described below) to the local userdirectory via the provided file transfer (e.g., FTP) application. AnyInternet 308 user may then access and view the uploaded (e.g., JPEG)images from the user directory of the shell account via an accessingdevice, e.g., a personal computer 310 and browser. In the context ofthis specification, the personal computer 310 may alternatively be,e.g., an integrated television set or telephone including a Web browser,a network computer or server, a “dumb” terminal with a mainframe orminicomputer, a smart terminal with a mainframe or minicomputer, or anyconfiguration that may act as an accessing device.

Furthermore, once the camera 1 is connected to the local ISP 304, accessto the Internet 308 at large is provided, and the camera 1 may alsoaccess a remote shell account 314 (shell #2) provided by a remote ISP312 and accessible via FTP (with an appropriate FTP user ID andpassword). JPEG image files may be stored and linked at the remote shellaccount 314 identically to that described above with the local shellaccount 306. Accordingly, the camera 1 is connected locally to theInternet at a first location, but may store images at a second locationanywhere in the world, allowing administration of a Web page providedwith images from the integrated Internet camera 1 perhaps thousands ofmiles away.

FIG. 4B is similar to FIG. 4A in that the camera 1 has access to a localshell account 306, the Internet, and a remote shell account 314 viasimilar mechanisms. However, in FIG. 3B, the arrangement for connectionof the camera 1 to the Internet is in combination with a network adapteras a network interface device 236. The camera 1 is connected, using thetransport control protocol (e.g., TCP/IP), to a local intranet or LAN316, which is further connected to the Internet. Once the transportcontrol protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) connection is established between thecamera 1 and the local intranet or LAN 316, the camera 1 may uploadpictures as described above with respect to FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a menu and parameter storage structure in theNVRAM 242 (or shadowed in the GP memory 228 when the camera 1 isoperating) readable and writable by the user via the button/switch input214 in combination with the display 218, via the serial/IrDA port 210 incombination with a personal computer, or updatable by the camera 1itself according to automatic setup/configuration procedures. As shownin FIG. 5, the camera 1 stores numerous variables and parameters (e.g.,in the NVRAM 242) that control the operation thereof, and which may beadjusted by the user via the menu structure or via direct commandsreceived by the microcontroller 200, e.g., via the serial/IrDA port 210.The menu structure may be made accessible via a tabular or line-modetext interface, a graphical user interface, or any other user interfaceresponsive to the button/switch input 214 or serial/IrDA port 210 thatallows the parameters to be set and stored. The menu and parameterstorage structure stores parameters in at least four categories: IMAGEFILES, MISC (miscellaneous) OPTION, COMMUNICATIONS, AND REPORTING.

The IMAGE FILES menu/storage area allows the setting of flags,attributes and parameters for a plurality of images to be captured,adjusted, and uploaded by the camera. In this embodiment, a plurality ofimage slots (e.g., FILE 1 . . . FILE 9) are available for individualcontrol, and each of the IMAGE FILES variable groups is provided foreach image slot. Nine image slots are merely exemplary, and the camera 1may store different image files and accompanying parameters to thecapacity of provided memory. A FILE DEFINITION variable group storesseveral parameters defining a file name, a destination directory,whether a file of the same name should be overwritten, and the number ofretries and interval therebetween should the camera 1 fail to upload theimage. The filename may also be set automatically by the camera 1according to an alphanumeric definition string, e.g., if “vcam###” isentered as a filename, the camera may increment every recorded imagename (e.g., “vcam011”, then “vcam002”, etc. The FILE DEFINITION variablegroup also stores a start and stop memory address and image file sizewhen memory for the image slots is dynamically allocated, as well as aparameter defining whether the image slot is a thumbnail image (asmaller image used for browsing images) of another slot and the numberof the thumbnail's parent image slot. When an image slot is designatedas a thumbnail slot, the filename of the thumbnail slot is preferablyautomatically set to a derivative of the parent image slot, e.g., athumbnail slot corresponding to a parent slot with a filename of“vcam001” would be automatically named “vcam001t”. An UPLOAD variablegroup stores a parameter defining whether the file should be uploadedimmediately (e.g., immediately after a release signal is acted upon andthe image file stored), or at the next batch upload operation. ASTAMPING variable group stores several parameters defining whetherstamping is appended to file header information and/or superimposed onthe image, stamping of a date and/or time and/or user-defined annotationor message, and the annotation itself. An IMAGE ADJUST variable groupstores several color property parameters defining increase or decreaseof gamma, brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and luminance, as wellas settings for (e.g., JPEG) compression level, resolution, whether animage is stored as a greyscale or a color image, as well as any croppingof the image specified, e.g., coordinates of opposite corners of theregion to be cropped. The parameters stored in each of the IMAGE ADJUSTvariable groups, corresponding to each color property of the image(e.g., contrast, hue, etc.), quantify an increase, decrease, or nochange in a particular property for a particular image slot. A TIMERvariable group stores several parameters defining capture at weekly,daily, hourly, and by-minute intervals, streaming (i.e., continuouscapture and transmission as fast as the camera 1 can manage), capture ata set date and/or time, or whether the image slot is one available forevent-based capture, including “manual” capture (e.g., by a depressionof the release button 214 e, or a release signal received from a triggerinput 211 or GPIO pin 219).

Optionally, instead of designating one image slot for each thumbnail,according to the variable groups, any image slot may be designated asone to be accompanied by a thumbnail image file. In such a case, themicrocontroller, when writing the parent image file, dynamically createsa smaller thumbnail image by scaling the parent image, and sends thethumbnail image using a file name derived from the parent file name(e.g., using the parent file name as a base, but having a predeterminedprefix or suffix denoting that the image is a thumbnail). Furtheralternatively, an image slot may be designated as a thumbnail grid“collage” slot, and, e.g., smaller (e.g., 80*60) thumbnail images ofeach recorded slot stored in predetermined X,Y positions in thethumbnail grid “collage” slot as a master “collage” image. That is, amaster grid “collage” image would be made up of smaller thumbnail imagesof the remaining, regular image slots, assembled into a single, largergrid “collage” in rows and columns. In such a case, when a thumbnail isto be sent accompanying any image slot, the microcontroller 200 may readthe corresponding thumbnail image from the predetermined position in themaster grid “collage” image and transmit the thumbnail image with anautomatically assigned thumbnail file name. E.g., if image slot 2,having a filename “vcam002” is designated as a slot accompanied by a80*60 thumbnail, the microcontroller 200 reads an image portion of thethumbnail slot from a position derived from the second regular imageslot (e.g., (81, 0) to (160, 60)) and sends the thumbnail image as,e.g., “vcam002t”. In such a case, the entire thumbnail grid “collage”image in the thumbnail grid “collage” slot may be separately sent as anyother image, which provides an easy way to preview or check all theimages currently stored in the camera 1.

The COMMUNICATIONS menu/storage area allows the setting of communicationparameters. A TELEPHONE variable group stores a primary ISP telephonenumber and return string, a secondary ISP telephone number and returnstring, the number of retries and interval therebetween should thecamera 1 fail to succeed in making a telephone transmission protocol(e.g., PPP) connection, a “good” connection speed, and options fortelephone connections. The options include which telephone transmissionprotocol will be used (e.g., PPP or SLIP), and parameters for the use ofthe chosen telephone transmission protocol (e.g., type of authorization,or whether the “client” or “server” initiates communication). The returnstrings are communications from the called ISP connection that thecamera 1 uses as prompts for sending, e.g., user identification andpassword information. A CAMERA ADDRESS variable group stores whether alocal (e.g., IP) address of the camera 1 is set dynamically (provided bythe Internet server) or is static (a predetermined address for thecamera 1), the local (e.g., IP) address if static, and a mail (e.g.,SMTP) server address for outgoing E-mail, as well as an SMTP useridentification and password as necessary. A TRANSMISSION variable groupstores a primary and secondary name server (e.g., DNS) address thatstores URL information allowing the camera 1 to access remote (e.g., IP)addresses as directed by a name (e.g., DNS) server, a flag thatindicates whether network authentication is necessary, a user ID andpassword information for network authentication, a variable thatindicates whether the camera 1 should maintain continuous communication(e.g., TCP/IP) or dial-up/connect only when an upload is indicated, thenumber of retries and interval therebetween should the camera 1 fail tomake a transport control protocol connection, a timeout should thecamera 1, e.g., make a connection but receive no further communicationsor return strings, and return strings (as previously noted, as promptsfor camera action) associated with the ISP connection. A MODEM/LANvariable group stores a setup control string for a modem provided as thenetwork interface device, a flag denoting whether the modem or networkinterface device should self-test, e.g., upon startup, and LAN options.The LAN options include information necessary or useful in establishinglocal network communications, e.g., a gateway address, subnet mask, andLAN address for the camera 1. A FILE TRANSFER variable group stores anfile transfer protocol (e.g., FTP) host address (a predeterminedInternet address such as, e.g., an IP address or URL), user ID andpassword for accessing the shell account on the Internet in which imageswill be stored, and the number of retries and interval therebetweenshould the camera 1 fail to make a file transfer protocol login.

The MISC OPTIONS menu/storage area stores “hardware” settings andsetting for special features of the camera 1.

A HARDWARE SETTINGS variable group stores the current time and date,which triggers are active and how the camera responds thereto, and animage source for the camera 1 to perform operations on. For example,trigger settings may include (for, e.g., as in the fifth embodiment, 2input triggers and 1 output trigger) settings that indicate imagecapture on a HIGH signal at either or both input triggers, a HIGH outputon the output trigger on any input trigger activity, or image capture ona press of button 214 e, and combinations of these settings. Imagesource setting may include settings that indicate that the image sourceis defined by a switch set on the camera (e.g., switch 214 g of thefifth embodiment), that an external composite video signal is used fortransmission, that the internal video signal is used for transmission,or that, e.g., only the internal luma (“Y” of YCrCb) is used fortransmission (i.e., a black and white signal requiring less bandwidth).A MANUFACTURER variable group stores settings that are set by oravailable primarily to the manufacturer, e.g., the version number andidentifier for the firmware in the NVRAM 242 as most recently updated, aserial number for the camera itself (which may be used as a uniquecamera identifier to allow Internet access) or debug settings thatprompt the camera to respond with appropriate debugging information andactions when the camera 1 is tested by the manufacturer or arepair/maintenance facility. The hardware settings may be of limitedaccess, e.g., accessible only via commands received via the serial/setupport, and invisible to the user (e.g., not available via any menuoperations), or available only via the entry of an access code orpredetermined button combinations defining an access code. A RESETSvariable group defines circumstances under which a “soft reset” isperformed (e.g., a re-initialization as in step S10 described below),including whether a soft reset is interval-based and an accompanyinginterval, whether a soft reset is event-based and a list ofcorresponding event codes (e.g., generated errors and repeats thereof),and a reset list defining which (all or some)applications/drivers/memory spaces are reset, initialized, or cleared.An ADAPTIVE variable group activates adaptive functions, such aschanging the (e.g., JPEG) compression ratio of the image depending onthe upload data transmission rate, changing to the secondary telephonenumber for telephone transmission protocol (e.g., PPP) access if noconnection is made, or changing to the secondary DNS address if noconnection is made. A BATCH variable group stores intervals and/or datesat which batch uploads of files will be executed. An AUTOCONFIGUREvariable group stores flags that determine if (Y/N) and when (nextBatch, next File) the camera 1 will retrieve a setup/configuration filecontaining a set of new parameters when making an FTP connection toupload an image, and a parameter defining the setup file directory.

It should be noted that the configuration/setup file is preferablyencrypted, and preferably recoverable via an additional password key(not shown) stored in the MISC OPTIONS menu/storage area. Anyappropriate encryption method may be used, with encryption anddecryption upon writing and reading performed by the microcontroller200.

The REPORTING menu/storage area allows the setting of error and statusreporting parameters. An ADDRESS variable group stores a destination(E-mail) address to which error, attachments (image files) and statusreports (with or without attachments) are sent, and a flag that sets thelevel of detail of the reports. A REPORTS variable group defines what isreported, including whether errors are reported, whether each (e.g.,interval or timed) upload is reported, whether changes in the parametersor settings are reported, whether an image file attachment will be sentas a report and which slot(s) will be sent (including the possibility ofan entire batch list), and the number of retries and intervaltherebetween should the camera 1 fail to report. An ERROR REPORTINGvariable group defines which types of errors are reported, includingerrors such as login failure, data rate too slow, general I/O error, FTPerror, modem failure, reset, and pan/tilt error (if applicable—primarilyfor the second embodiment).

Each of the variable groups is accessible as required according to thecontrol procedures described hereinafter, or according to controlprocedures readily ascertainable to one skilled in the art in view ofthe functions described in association with each variable. Where aninterval or specified date and time are given, the microcontroller 200,in combination with the real time clock 208, maintains individual timers(e.g., T1, T2 . . . Tn as shown in FIG. 3) for each of the intervals orspecified date and time. That is, at least one timer for each image slotand at least one batch timer are maintained. Each timer may countintervals from a given start time, or be set to count down to one ormore specific dates and times, in combination with the real time clock208 and microcontroller 200 forming one or more scheduling devices.

FIG. 6 describes a control procedure initiated when the camera 1 is“turned on”. The camera 1 may be, as previously described, actuallypowered at all times when connected to the appropriate power supply.However, when an “on-off” button is operated, or the power supply isconnected, the camera 1 may perform the initialization and main stepsdetailed in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, after the camera 1 is “turnedon”, the microcontroller 200 is first “booted” and initialized at stepS10. In step S10, the necessary routines for basic operation of themicrocontroller 200 are loaded, according to the boot ROM 23Q, from theNVRAM 242 into the memory 228. These routines/applications/driversinclude at least the transport control (e.g., TCP/IP) stack, a driverthat recognizes the network interface device 236, and the user interfaceand operating system (including boot messages for display).Subsequently, data and applications may be called from or loaded to theNVRAM 242, the compression engine 224, and the GP memory 228 as neededto carry out the various functions of the system. The initializationprocedure may use values and parameters stored in the COMMUNICATIONS:MODEM/LAN variable group to initialize the network interface device 236.At step S12, the program begins a main routine, as shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary logic flow of the main routine of the camera1. As shown in FIG. 7, the main routine enables “user” intervention,including intervention via the interrupt controllers 213, GPIO pins 219,or trigger inputs 211 at step S14. At this point, initialization iscompleted, and the microcontroller 200 may recognize commands from thebutton/switch input 214, from the GPIO pins 219, from the trigger inputs211, from the serial/IrDA port 210, or “automatic” commands from thevarious timers or other interrupts (described later).

The microcontroller 200 is preferably responsive, via the serial/IrDAport or internal issuance (e.g., button, timer, trigger, event), to acommand set having a robust syntax, and controls the camera according tocommands in the command set. In the present embodiment, an “escape code”command set is preferred for simplicity and stability. For example, acommand to which the camera responds may be arranged to have a threefield header preceding any data accompanying the command—a one byteescape code (conventionally 0x1B hexadecimal), a one byte command code(permitting 256 different commands in the set), and a one byte commanddata length (permitting up to 256 bytes of command-specific data to beexchanged). The length field is always included, even if no dataaccompanies the command. Commands fall into two primary categories:parameter setting, and task execution. The camera also follows aresponse syntax similar to the command syntax, i.e., an escape code, anecho of the command code, and a command data length, followed by anydata to be returned by the camera. Since the camera returns largeamounts of data, including images, upon request, the command data lengthin the response syntax is preferably three bytes, permitting up to 16 Mbof command-specific data to be returned by the camera.

The following routines and functions are described without specificreference to a particular command set, although the operations describedare preferably initiated, performed, and/or terminated using a commandset as described above. FIG. 16B, described below, shows a routine forhandling commands received as part of, e.g., a command set.

At step S16, the microcontroller 200 waits for one of: a command (e.g.,received via the serial/IrDA port 210, or generated by one or morebutton presses, a timer, or internal processes or events); a setupsignal (i.e., a button press of one of buttons 214 c-d or a setup signalreceived from the serial Ir/DA port 210); a batch upload signal (i.e., adepression of button 214 e when in setup mode, a batch upload signalreceived from the serial Ir/DA port 210, or the batch timer expiring);or a release signal (i.e., a button press of button 214 e when in mainoperation mode, a release signal received from the serial Ir/DA port210, any image slot timer expiring, or a signal received from a GPIO pin219 or trigger input 211). If a command signal is detected at step S16,the microcontroller 200 proceeds to a command routine at step S19(described later with reference to FIG. 16B), and when the commandroutine is completed, proceeds to step S24. If a setup signal isdetected at step S16, the microcontroller 200 proceeds to a setuproutine at step S18 (described later with reference to FIG. 16A), andwhen the setup routine is completed, proceeds to step S24. If a batchupload signal is detected at step S16, the microcontroller 200 proceedsto a batch upload routine at step S20 (described with reference to FIG.14), and when the batch upload routine is completed, proceeds to stepS24. If a release signal is detected at step S16, the microcontroller200 proceeds to a capture routine at step S22 and a transmit routine atstep S23 (described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9), and when thecapture and transmit routines are completed, proceeds to step S24 (areporting routine described below with respect to FIG. 15). Upon thecompletion of step S24, control proceeds to step S27.

The setup signal, batch upload signal, or release signal may beconsidered “commands” handled by the routine of FIG. 16B, but in thisembodiment, are handled independently of received “commands”, althoughthe called routines may also be entered via the receipt of anappropriate command.

In step S27, the camera 1 may perform a “soft reset” according to thevalues stored in the RESETS variable group. That is, depending on theRESETS variable group, the camera 1 may perform a interval-based “softreset” (e.g., once a day, once a week), or an event-based “soft reset”(e.g., after a certain number of failures to connect or other generatederrors). In either case, all or some of the applications/drivers/memoryspaces are reset, initialized, or cleared depending on the RESETSvariable group. Step S27 may return the camera to step S10 of FIG. 6 ifthe entire camera 1 is to be reset or re-initialized, again depending onthe contents of the RESETS variable group. This feature allows thecamera 1, e.g., to restart occasionally to clear out old data, or toreset if unable to get a connection, without the user being required tovisit a remote site.

If the camera is not “turned off” (e.g., via a switch on thebutton/switch input 214) at step S25, then the microcontroller 200returns to step S16 to cycle through the main routine again. If it isdetermined that the camera 1 is “turned off” at step S25, then controlreturns to the main routine, where the camera 1 shuts down (e.g., entersan idle state).

FIG. 8 shows a capture routine for capturing, compressing, and storingan image. As shown in FIG. 8, the capture routine first checks at stepS26 whether the indicated image capture is event based, i.e., accordingto user or trigger intervention, or whether the indicated image captureis according to a timer (for example, according to a flag set in stepS16 to indicate which signal was received). If the capture signal isfrom a timer, control proceeds to step S28, where the image capture slotis identified according to the-timer that expired. Control then proceedsto step S32. If the capture signal is event-based, control proceeds tostep S30, where the image slot is identified as the least recentlyfilled event slot of those slots identified as available event slots inthe IMAGE FILES: TIMER variable groups as shown in FIG. 5. Control thenproceeds to step S32.

In step S32, an exposure is set, i.e., the microcontroller 200 initiatesa capture (for exposure setting purposes) of the scene at which thecamera 1 is presently pointed. However, instead of storing this capture,the luminance of the overall image is cumulatively calculated oraveraged by the image pickup circuit 250 in combination with themicrocontroller 200. The average may be taken from all the pixels of theimage or from any portion thereof. The luminance of the overall image isthen used in a conventional calculation to set an appropriate exposuretime (i.e., light accumulation time) for a subsequent image capture bythe image pickup 248.

In step S34, the image pickup 248 is driven by the driver 252 toaccumulate light, i.e., to store an image. The image is then dumped tothe image pickup circuit 250, where it undergoes processing to assemblean analog image signal from the image pickup 248, including imageprocessing to convert the image pickup signal to a luminance (Y) signaland two color difference signals (Cb—blue, Cr—red). Subsequently, theA/D converter 246 converts the YCrCb signal to a digital image signal,which is passed by the compression engine 224 and memory controller 226to the image memory (at this point, without compression). Control thenproceeds to step S36. The described operations are substantiallyanalogous for an infrared sensor as described, but also include infraredfrequency gradient to color transformation to show hotter or coolercolor areas of the image.

In step S36, image adjustment, including color adjusting andtime/date/message stamping, is performed on the image in image memory220. The microcontroller 200 controls the color adjusting circuit 256,compression engine 226, and character generator 254 to adjust the image(increase, decrease, or maintain a property) according to the parametersand settings stored in the IMAGE FILES: IMAGE ADJUST and IMAGE FILES:STAMPING variable groups, and according to the image slot identified insteps S28 or S30. Depending on the IMAGE FILES: STAMPING variable group,stamping may be storage of the date, and/or time, and/or annotation asfile header information in the appropriate slot in the GP memory 226,and/or superimposition of appropriate generated characters on the imagein the image memory 220. Control then proceeds to step S38.

In step S38, the compression engine 226 is controlled by themicrocontroller 200, according to settings stored in the IMAGE FILES:IMAGE ADJUST, to compress the image in the image memory 220 to theappropriate slot (identified in steps S28 or S30) in the GP memory 226.If the MISC OPTION: ADAPTIVE parameter is set to change (e.g, reduce orincrease) the image compression depending on the data rate, thecompression engine 226 is then set to increase the compression level bya predetermined amount if the data rate is lower than a predeterminedrate, or decrease the compression level by a predetermined amount if thedata rate is higher than a predetermined rate. Subsequently, controlreturns (if the capture routine is called from step S22 in FIG. 7) tostep S23.

From step S23 of FIG. 7, the main routine passes control to the transmitroutine shown in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 9, the transmit routine firstchecks if the slot identified in one of steps S28 or S30 is an imageslot designated for batch operations; i.e., whether or not the settingsstored in the IMAGE FILES: UPLOAD variable group indicate that the imagein the image slot is to be uploaded immediately (e.g., followingcapture), or whether the image in the image slot is to be uploaded atthe next batch upload operation. If the image in the image slot isdesignated for the next batch upload operation, control returns to themain routine following step S24, whereupon step S16 is again executed towait for a subsequent signal or interrupt. This is true whether theimage capture was initiated by user or trigger intervention or by atimer expiration.

If the image in the image slot is designated to be immediately uploaded,control passes to step S44, which calls the FTP connect routine(described below with reference to FIG. 11) in which the camera makes aconnection to the designated shell account via FTP and the networkinterface device 236. The designated (single) image is then uploaded tothe designated shell account (via the file transfer application, FTP) instep S46. Subsequently, control passes to step S48, in which themicrocontroller 200 checks whether the camera is set to continuoustransport control protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) connection or dial-upoperation in the COMMUNICATIONS: TRANSMISSION variable group. If thecamera 1 is set for continuous connection (for example, in the casewhere intervals between images are very short, or where image streamingis set in the IMAGE FILES: TIMER variable group for any image slot),control returns to the main routine following step S24 withoutdisconnecting the existing transport control protocol (e.g., TCP/IP)connection (made in the FTP connect routine), whereupon step S16 isagain executed to wait for a subsequent signal or interrupt. If thecamera 1 is set for dial-up connection, control proceeds to step S50,where the existing transport control protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) connectionmay be dropped and/or the modem hung up in a disconnect routine shown inFIG. 10. In this context, it should be noted that “dial-up” does notnecessarily mean dialing of a telephone, but rather that the connectionis newly made when substantive data (excepting handshaking, etc.) is tobe transmitted and broken or dropped when data is not to be transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the disconnect routine, the microcontroller 200checks whether reporting is ON according to the REPORTING: REPORTSvariable group (i.e., whether any of uploads, errors, or setup updatesare set to be reported) in step S51. If reporting is ON, themicrocontroller 200 aborts the disconnect routine and returns to theoriginating routine (in this case, disconnecting is eventually performedby the reporting routine described below with reference to FIG. 15). Ifreporting is not ON, the microcontroller 200 disconnects, asappropriate, the transport control connection (TCP/IP), telephonetransmission connection (e.g., PPP), and modem connection (asappropriate) in step S52, and then returns to the originating process.

As shown in FIG. 11, the FTP connect routine (e.g., called at step S44)makes a file transfer protocol (e.g., FTP) connection to the destinationserver and shell account/user directory. In step S53, themicrocontroller 200 checks whether the camera has an existing transportcontrol protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) connection (e.g., in case the camera hasnot disconnected from the initial login as in step S48). If the camerahas an existing connection, control proceeds to step S58, at which thefile transfer (e.g., FTP) application logs in. If the camera has noexisting transport control (e.g., TCP/IP) connection, control proceedsto step S54.

In step S54, the microcontroller 200 uses the parameters stored in theCOMMUNICATIONS: TELEPHONE; CAMERA ADDRESS; and TRANSMISSION variablegroups to determine what steps must be taken to establish a transportcontrol (e.g., TCP/IP) connection, and attempts to make the connection.

For example, if the network interface device 236 is a network card, thetransport control (e.g., TCP/IP) login process may take one of twoforms. In one scenario, no network authentication is necessary, and thetransport control login is relatively simple, including notifying thelocal network that the camera is present and requesting a dynamic (e.g.,IP) address (or notifying the local network of the camera's internetaddress—IP address or URL). Subsequently, the user may use the filetransfer application (e.g., FTP) to reach any IP address on the Internetby logging in with only the file transfer application user ID andpassword (which may be set to “anonymous” for public access), e.g., thefile transfer application acting as the sole network authenticationapplication. In this first scenario, the camera 1 is set for “networksecurity: N” in the COMMUNICATIONS: TRANSMISSION variable group, anduses only internet (IP or URL) address information from theCOMMUNICATIONS: TRANSMISSION variable group. In another scenario, thecamera must pass network authentication, which will demand a user ID andpassword for access to the network. In this second scenario, the camera1 is set for “network security: Y” in the COMMUNICATIONS: TRANSMISSIONvariable group, and uses the user ID and password in the COMMUNICATIONS:TRANSMISSION variable group as well as requesting a dynamic IP addressif necessary, e.g., the transport control application acting as anetwork authentication application, alone or in concert with the filetransfer application as noted above.

Accordingly, depending on the settings of the COMMUNICATIONS: TELEPHONE;CAMERA ADDRESS, and TRANSMISSION variable groups, the microcontroller200 attempts to make a transport control (TCP/IP) connection in stepS54. If a modem (requiring the use of telephone transmission protocol,e.g., PPP) is used as the network interface device 236, themicrocontroller 200 automatically (e.g., by detecting the modem driverparameters) proceeds to the TELEPHONE routine shown in FIG. 12.

In step S56, the microcontroller 200 checks whether a transport control(TCP/IP) connection has been made, returning to step S54 if noconnection is made, or proceeding to step S58 if the connection issuccessful. The microcontroller 200 also monitors the number of retriesin step S54 (as defined in the COMMUNICATIONS: TRANSMISSION variablegroup, along with the interval therebetween), and exits the FTP connectroutine (i.e., returns) when the number of retries (i.e, the number ofiterations through steps S54 and S56) has been exceeded, generating anerror which may be reported (depending on the contents of the REPORTING:ERROR REPORTING variable group).

In step S58, the microcontroller 200 uses the parameters stored in theCOMMUNICATIONS: FILE TRANSFER variable group to attempt to establish afile transfer application (e.g., FTP) login at the destination internet(e.g., IP or URL) address. Usually, the login is effected with a user IDand password for file transfer application (e.g., FTP) access to thenetwork at the destination (e.g., IP) address. The camera 1 uses theuser ID and password in the COMMUNICATIONS: FILE TRANSFER variablegroup. In step S60, the microcontroller 200 checks whether a filetransfer application (e.g., FTP) login has been made, returning to stepS58 if no login is completed, and exiting the FTP connect routine(returning) if the connection is successful. The microcontroller 200also monitors the number of retries in step S58 (as defined in theCOMMUNICATIONS: FILE TRANSFER variable group, along with the intervaltherebetween), and exits the FTP connect routine (i.e., returns) whenthe number of retries (i.e, the number of iterations through steps S58and S60) has been exceeded, generating an error which may be reported(depending on the contents of the REPORTING: ERROR REPORTING variablegroup). In the context of this specification, any steps that monitor anumber of retries also monitor whether or a successful connection timesout (e.g., Without receipt of an appropriate return string) according tothe specified timeout value, and also carry out the samefailed-connection steps when a timeout is recorded (e.g., exiting theroutine and generating an error that may be reported).

If a successful file transfer application (e.g., FTP) login isaccomplished in steps S58 and S60, or if the process generates an errorfrom a login or connect failure as previously described, control returnsto the transmit routine of FIG. 9 at step S46.

If the camera does not use a modem as the network interface device 236,the microcontroller 200 does not perform the TELEPHONE connect routineof FIG. 11. Since the “telephone transmission protocol” establishes atransport control protocol connection over, e.g., telephone lines orother analog transmission lines, the “telephone transmission protocol”is only used in instances where the network interface device 236 is notdirectly wired or otherwise linked to a medium capable of addressing andbeing addressed by the Internet using the transport control protocol.

As previously described, if the camera 1 uses a modem as the networkinterface device 236, the microcontroller jumps to the TELEPHONE routineof FIG. 10 from step S54 of the FILE TRANSFER connect routine in FIG.11. In the TELEPHONE routine, the microcontroller 200 uses theparameters stored in the COMMUNICATIONS: TELEPHONE variable group. Instep S66, the microcontroller 200 enables and/or resets the modem (asthe network interface device 236), and dials the primary telephonenumber. The modem may make a successful connection, may fail to connect,or may encounter a busy signal or no answer. Accordingly, themicrocontroller 200 checks whether a connection has been made in stepS66. If a connection is made successfully, the microcontroller 200proceeds to step S68.

However, the microcontroller 200 also monitors the number of retries instep S64 (as defined in the COMMUNICATIONS: TELEPHONE variable group,along with the interval therebetween), and switches to the secondarytelephone number (if one has been entered in the COMMUNICATIONS:TELEPHONE variable group) when the number of retries (i.e, the number ofiterations through steps S64 and S66) has been exceeded (resetting thenumber of retries for the secondary telephone number), generating anerror which may be reported. The microcontroller 200 then proceedsthrough steps S64 and S66 in the same manner as with the primarytelephone number. If the number of retries has been exceeded using thesecondary telephone number, the microcontroller 200 exits the TELEPHONEconnect routine (i.e., returns), generating an error which may bereported.

Even if a connection is made successfully, the microcontroller 200 mayquery the modem and check whether the connection is satisfactory in stepS68. That is, if a fast connection (e.g., 28800 bps or higher) isnecessary for satisfactory streaming of images (if such is set in anIMAGE FILES: TIMER variable group), it may be unacceptable to connect ata lower rate. If the user has set a “good connection” rate definition inthe COMMUNICATIONS: TELEPHONE variable group and the modem connectiondoes not reach the defined rate, at step S68, the microcontroller 200returns to step S68, treating the connection the same as no connection(i.e., counting a retry). Similarly, since a poor connection is treatedthe same as no connection, the microcontroller 200 will eventuallyswitch to the secondary telephone number at step S64 if no satisfactoryconnection can be made on the primary telephone number. If theconnection rate is satisfactory, control proceeds from step S68 to stepS70. Moreover, if no “good connection” rate is set in theCOMMUNICATIONS: TELEPHONE variable group, step S68 is not performed bythe microcontroller 200, and control proceeds to step S70.

Step S70 is handled identically to step S54 of the FTP connect routine.That is, once the modem connection is made, the telephone transmissionprotocol (e.g., PPP) software (also running on the ISP server), forwardspackets created by the transport control protocol stack, therebyappearing as a slow transport control protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) connectionto the ISP server. That is, if the network interface device 236 is amodem, the transport control (e.g., TCP/IP) login process will use thetelephone transmission protocol (e.g., PPP) to connect to an ISP orother dial-in network access, and will almost always need to passnetwork authentication. In this case, the camera is set for “networksecurity: Y” in the COMMUNICATIONS: TRANSMISSION variable group, anduses the user ID and password in the COMMUNICATIONS: TRANSMISSIONvariable group. With the telephone transmission protocol (e.g., PPP) aswell, the camera 1 requests a dynamic IP address (or notifies the localnetwork of the camera's IP address). Subsequently, control returns tothe FTP connect routine, and proceeds through steps S56 (Accordingly,the FTP connect routine will again perform the entire TELEPHONE routineif no transport control protocol connection is made in step S70), S58,and S60 before returning to the transmit routine of FIG. 9 at step S46.

It should be noted that an incorrect user ID or password for, e.g., anyof the transport control protocol, telephone transmission protocol, orfile transfer protocol connections or logins will return an error at thesame point as a failure to connect and is treated in the same manner,and the microcontroller 200 will generate (and record) an error andabandon the attempt to connect after the specified number of retries, aspreviously described.

Once control returns to the transmit routine at step S46, a write(single) file routine, appearing in FIG. 13, is executed. In the writefile routine, the microcontroller 200 checks whether a connect or loginerror was generated at step S71. If an error was generated (i.e., ifmaking any of the transport control protocol, telephone transmissionprotocol, or file transfer protocol logins or connections wereabandoned), the microcontroller 200 abandons the write file routine atstep S71 and returns to the transmit routine (following step S46). If noerror was generated, i.e., all connections were successful, controlproceeds to step S72.

In step S72, the microcontroller 200 retrieves the directory listing ofthe assigned filename and directory of the image file (image slot) to bewritten, including at least file size and date. This information isretrieved so the microcontroller 200 may compare the file last writtenwith the file to be written/uploaded via the file transfer application(e.g., FTP). Control then proceeds to step S74. In step S74, thecontroller compares the retrieved file information with the informationof the image file to be written, and writes the image file in thedesignated image slot if necessary, together with the file transferapplication, acting as a directory selecting device, based on theparameters set in the IMAGE FILES: FILE DEFINITION variable group. Forexample, if an “overwrite” parameter is set to ON in the IMAGE FILES:FILE DEFINITION variable group, the microcontroller 200 deletes the fileresiding in the destination directory and writes the image file in thedesignated image slot to the destination directory, but does notoverwrite the resident image if “overwrite” is OFF. If a “more recent”parameter is set with an accompanying interval, the microcontroller 200may compare the file dates and times, and only writes the image file inthe designated image slot to the destination directory if the differenceis more than the interval (for example, in the case of a plurality ofcameras in different locations writing to the same filename so that animage on a web page may be cycled between different locales). At thesame time, the microcontroller 200 may abort an upload if the date andtime of a file resident in the destination directory is identical to (ordiffers by less than, e.g., 5 seconds, one minute, etc.) that of animage file to be uploaded (i.e., signifying that the file to be uploadedis identical to that currently resident in the destination directory).

When the image file is written, a thumbnail image file may be written atthe same time. In this case, the microcontroller 200 checks if any imageslot is designated as a thumbnail slot corresponding to the writtenimage file. If a corresponding thumbnail image is available, themicrocontroller 200 writes the thumbnail image file according to thepredetermined thumbnail file name associated with the parent image filename. If, as noted above, the microcontroller 200 is instead set todynamically create thumbnail images, depending on the image slotsettings, the microcontroller dynamically scales the image sent to athumbnail size, and writes the thumbnail image using the predeterminedfilename associated with the parent file image. In the thirdalternative, the microcontroller extracts the appropriate thumbnail fromthe master grid “collage” thumbnail image slot, and writes the thumbnailimage using the predetermined filename associated with the parent fileimage.

Once the image file in the designated image slot is written, controlproceeds to step S75. In step S75, depending on the information storedin the “MISC OPTION: AUTOCONFIGURE” variable group (i.e., whether or notto retrieve a setup/configuration file via the file transferapplication, whether to retrieve the setup/configuration file upon anyfile transfer connection or only batch connections, and the directory ofthe setup file), the microcontroller 200 downloads (via the filetransfer application) and stores a new set of “setup” parameters fromthe defined directory. The microcontroller 200 also disconnects (logsout) from the file transfer (e.g., FTP) connection in step S75. In thismanner, the user may place a setup or configuration file in hisdestination directory in a predetermined format recognizable by thecamera 1, and the camera may download a new or modified full or partialset of operational parameters (e.g., those shown in FIG. 5) permittingremote control of camera operation.

Subsequently, control returns from the write single file routine of FIG.13 to the transmit routine of FIG. 9 (step S48), as previouslydescribed. If the image file may not be written for any reason, e.g.,the destination directory is full or the given password does not allowsufficient access, a reportable error is generated (i.e., generated andrecorded) and the failure is counted in the monitoring of the number ofretries in step S58 and parent step S44.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart describing a batch (or buffered) upload routine,which may be called from the main process at step S20 upon theexpiration of the batch timer designated in the MISC OPTION: BATCHvariable group. As previously described, each of the image slots has adefined parameter in the IMAGE FILES: UPLOAD variable group thatdesignates whether the image file in the image slot is available forbatch (or buffered) upload (as opposed to immediate upload). As shown inFIG. 14, in the batch upload routine, the microcontroller 200 firstcalls the FTP connect routine of FIG. 11, which behaves in an identicalmanner to that previously described (with respect to step S76).Subsequently, the microcontroller 200 checks whether any connectionfailure error was generated in the FTP connect routine, and aborts thebatch upload routine if any connection failure (modem, transportcontrol, or file transfer) occurred, identically to that previouslydescribed with respect to step S41. Control then passes to step S78, inwhich the microcontroller 200 assembles a batch list of image files infile slots to be uploaded (e.g. in the GP memory 228). The batch listcontains information (i.e., an index) identifying each of the file slotsthat is identified as available for batch upload-in the respective IMAGEFILES: UPLOAD variable groups. The microcontroller 200 then proceeds tostep S80. Step S80 is performed identically to the previously describedstep S74 of the write single file routine of FIG. 13, except that theupload is performed for each image slot in the batch list. Accordingly,each image file corresponding to designated image slots in the batchlist is written to a corresponding destination directory.

In this manner, a set of image files (e.g., image files showing dailyscenes) recorded and stored at different times may be uploaded togetherto the directory in a single connection session (e.g., a batch uploadonce a week including different daily scenes). Following step S80,control proceeds through step S81 (identical to previously describedstep S75), step S82 (identical to previously described step S46), stepS83 (identical to previously described step S47), and step S84.(identical to previously described step S50), and returns to the mainprocess of FIG. 6 following step S20.

FIG. 15 shows a reporting routine that is executed following any ofsteps S18, S20, or S24 of the main routine. Once the camera 1 isconnected via the transport control protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) to theInternet, it may send E-mail messages using the mail protocol portion(e.g., SMTP) of the transport control (e.g., TCP/IP) protocol via anassigned mail (e.g., SMTP) server. Preferably, the mail protocol portion(e.g., SMTP) includes extensions (e.g., MIME) allowing the attachment ofbinary files (e.g., images, audio). In this manner, the owner oroperator of the camera 1 may receive status reports from the camera, aswell as or including attached image files. Depending on the parametersin the REPORTING: REPORTS variable group, when an error is generated inany of the scenarios previously described, when an upload of an imagefile or batch of image files is completed, or when the parameters arechanged in the parameter storage structure, the microcontroller 200appends a (brief or verbose) status message, date, and time to areporting buffer in the GP memory 228. Further, if the REPORTING:REPORTS variable group specifies attachments and correspondingdesignated image slot(s), when a designated image slot is updatedaccording to intervals, date and time, or event-based (e.g., manually),then an attachment status message is appended to the reporting buffer inthe GP memory 228 (e.g., at step S20 or step S22 of FIG. 7). In thereporting routine, the microcontroller 200 uses the E-mail addressinginformation stored in the COMMUNICATIONS: CAMERA ADDRESS (e.g., SMTPserver) and REPORTING: ADDRESS variable groups to send simple E-mailmessages reporting the status of the camera 1 (i.e., sending thecontents of the reporting buffer as part of an E-mail message), and/orthe contents of designated image slots as attachments, to an E-mailaddress anywhere on the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 15, in the reporting routine, the microcontroller 200checks whether reporting is ON according to the REPORTING: REPORTSvariable group (i.e., whether any of uploads, errors, or setup updatesare set to be reported) in step S90. If reporting is OFF, themicrocontroller 200 aborts the reporting routine and returns to theoriginating routine (i.e., the main routine of FIG. 6). If reporting isON, the microcontroller 200 proceeds to check whether any data exists inthe reporting buffer at step S92. If no data exists in the reportingbuffer, the microcontroller 200 aborts the reporting routine and returnsto the originating routine (i.e., the main routine of FIG. 6). If dataexists, control proceeds to step S92.

Steps S92, S94, and S96 are identical to steps S53, S54, and S56 aspreviously described, including the generation of errors and retries.Accordingly, only if the microcontroller 200 makes a successfultransport control (e.g., TCP/IP) connection, control proceeds to stepS98 (otherwise aborting and returning to the main process following stepS25. In step S98, the microcontroller 200 assembles a mail (e.g., SMTP)message, including the contents of the reporting buffer as text, anappropriate header from the parameters stored in the REPORTING: ADDRESSvariable group, any necessary dummy information to fill out unusedfields in the mail protocol, and attached image file(s) havingappropriate designated image slot file name(s), or pointers thereto, asdesignated in the REPORTING: REPORTS variable group. The microcontroller200 then proceeds to step S100, in which the camera provides the mail(e.g., SMTP) message (and attached images as designated) to the localmail (SMTP) server (which subsequently directs the message to itsultimate destination). Control then passes through steps S102 and S104.Step S102 is identical to the previously discussed step S48, bypassingthe succeeding disconnect step S104 if continuous access is set. StepS104 is identical to the previously discussed step S52, in which themicrocontroller 200 disconnects the transport control protocol,telephone transmission protocol, and modem connections (as appropriate),and then returns to the originating process, i.e., to the main processfollowing step S25 (which then returns to step S16).

Accordingly, as determined by the user, the camera 1 reports the statusof image uploads, errors, and changes in operational parameters, as wellas sending attached image files, via E-mail sent over the Internet,thereby taking advantage of the transport control protocol (TCP/IP)connection, provided primarily for image upload, to advise the camera'soperator of problems with the camera 1 or directly provide the operatorwith an image file via E-mail. Even the cessation of E-mail reports fromthe camera 1 can notify the camera's operator that the camera 1 is nolonger able to access the Internet.

FIG. 16A is a flowchart showing an example method of controlling a setuproutine, entered from step S18 of the main process, upon an input ofeither a local or remote setup signal. The camera 1 detects whether thesetup operation is internal or via an attached or connected setupdevice. A “setup signal” can be initiated, e.g., by depressing any ofthe buttons of the button/switch input 214, or can include any setupdata received via the serial/IrDA port 210, e.g., from a connected PC216. In step S106, the microcontroller 200 determines, via the keyboardcontroller 212, whether any button has been pressed on the button/switchinput 214 (proceeding to step S108), or whether setup data is receivedvia the serial/IrDA port 210 (proceeding to step S120).

In step S108, the keyboard controller 212, in combination with themicrocontroller 200, intercepts the button pressed and displays thevariable group and parameters in the display 218 via the LCD controller206 as a textual, tabular, or graphical representation. (i.e., initiallydisplaying the IMAGE FILES storage area). If, e.g., the “menu” 114 cbutton is pressed, control proceeds to step S110; if the “item” button114 d is pressed, control proceeds to step S112; if the “up” or “down”buttons 114 a or 114 b are pressed, control proceeds to step S114; ifthe “other” button is pressed, e.g., the “autoconfigure” button 214 f,control proceeds to step S116; and if the release button 114 e ispressed (after the setup routine has been entered), control proceeds tostep S118.

In step S110, the microcontroller 200 switches focus betweenmenu/storage items of the same “level” in the menu/storage hierarchy,i.e., between storage areas, image slots, variable groups, or parameters(as shown in FIG. 5), and displays an appropriate message via the LCDcontroller 206 and display 218. For example, when the “menu” button 114c is sequentially pressed when “IMAGE FILES” is displayed, themicrocontroller cycles through and sequentially displays “IMAGE FILES”;“MISC OPTION”; “COMMUNICATIONS”; and “REPORTING”; and when the “menu”button 114 c is sequentially pressed when “FILE 1” is displayed, themicrocontroller cycles through and sequentially displays “FILE 1”; “FILE2”; through (e.g.) “FILE 9”—menu/storage items of the same “level”.Control then returns to step S108.

In step S112, the microcontroller 200 switches between “levels” ofmenu/storage items, i.e., between storage areas, image slots, variablegroups, or parameters (as shown in FIG. 5), and displays an appropriatemessage via the LCD controller 206 and display 218. For example, whenthe “item” button 114 d is sequentially pressed when “IMAGE FILES” isdisplayed, the microcontroller cycles through and appends to the display“IMAGE FILES”; “FILE1”; “FILE DEFINITION” and “FILE NAME”—“levels” ofmenu/storage items. Control then returns to step S108.

In step S114, the microcontroller 200 switches between possible valuesof parameters (the direction of cycling according to which of the “up”or “down” buttons 114 a, 114 b is pressed) and changes the displayedparameter via the LCD controller 206 and display 218. For example, whenone of the “up” or “down” buttons 114 a, 114 b is pressed when “IMAGEFILES: FILE 1: UPLOAD: IMMEDIATE/BATCH” is displayed, themicrocontroller 200 cycles through and highlights “immediate” or“batch”—all the possible values for that particular parameter. When theparameter is a numeric or an alphanumeric field such as a telephonenumber, file name, directory, or message, the microcontroller 200 cyclesthrough and displays numerals or ASCII characters (as appropriate) upondepressions of the “up” or “down” buttons 114 a, 114 b (the direction ofcycling according to which of the “up” or “down” buttons 114 a, 114 b ispressed). In this case, the microcontroller 200 may move focus to thenext character place in the numeric or alphanumeric field upon a pressof one of the “up” or “down” buttons 114 a, 114 b simultaneously with apress of the “item” button 114 c (the direction of moving according towhich of the “up” or “down” buttons 114 a, 114 b is pressed incombination with the “item” button 114 c). Control then returns to stepS108.

In step S118, when the release button 114 e is pressed while themicrocontroller 200 executes the setup routine, the microcontroller 200stores all the parameter and value changes made, and returns to the mainprocess of FIG. 7 following step S18.

In step S120, the microcontroller 200 receives and writes from theremote source (e.g., via the serial/IrDA port 210 from a PC 216 or setupdevice linked to the camera 1) a new set of parameters to be written tothe structure of FIG. 5, or new firmware code to be written to the NVRAM242 (e.g., EEPROM or flash memory). As described, setup may be initiatedvia the serial/IrDA port 210, and the PC 216 runs dedicated orgeneral-purpose software that may receive data, command results, andimages from the camera 1, and transmits control data, commands andimages to the camera 1; or that may write or overwrite the firmware inthe NVRAM 242 (e.g., O/S, TCP/IP or other protocol stack, FTP or otherfile transfer application, card drivers, and other drivers andapplications). Control then proceeds to step S122, in which themicrocontroller 200 rewrites any portion or all of the parameter set, orrewrites any portion or all of the firmware, and then returns to themain process of FIG. 7 following step S18.

Accordingly, a user may view and/or change any of the variables orparameters in the menu/storage structure, or even update the entirefirmware set or parts thereof, changing the manner in which the camera 1is controlled. Furthermore, the user may change the parameters throughdirect manipulation of the button/switch 214, or by receiving setup datavia the serial/IrDA port 210.

FIG. 16B is a flowchart showing an example method of controlling thesetup routine, entered from step S19 of the main process, upon an inputof either a local or remote command signal. This routine handlescommands and functions not otherwise provided for in the precedingdescription, for setting parameters and executing functions. The camera1 detects whether the command is a parameter setting command, or a taskexecution command. Commands having an incorrect syntax are recorded instep S138. A “command” can be, e.g., initiated by depressing one or moreof the buttons of the button/switch input 214 alone or in combination,generated internally by timer, event, or process, or can include anycommand received via the serial/IrDA port 210, e.g., from a connected PC216. In step S130, the microcontroller 200 receives data initiallyidentified as a command, e.g., having the appropriate escape code, andidentifies the originator of the command (e.g., external setup devicevia the serial/IrDA port 210, or an internal request). Themicrocontroller 200 then identifies what type of command has beenreceived, e.g., a parameter setting command (proceeding to step S134), atask execution command (proceeding to step S136), or a command having anincorrect syntax (proceeding to step S138).

Parameter setting commands and Task Execution commands may include, butare not limited to, the following examples.

System Setup and Image Parameter setting commands may include: SetSerial Number; Set Time; Set Hardware Settings; Set Modem Parameters;Set Timeouts; Set Schedule; Set Debug Options; Set Serial Number; SetImage Appearance Parameters; Set Image Spatial Parameters; Set ImageTime stamp Parameters.

Connection Parameter setting commands may include Set DNS; Set ImageFile Name, Set FTP Host; Set FTP username/password; Set SMTP host; SetSMTP username/password; Set Email destination; Set Primary DialupString; Set Primary Dialup Return/Response String; Set Secondary DialupString; Set Secondary Dialup Return/Response String; Set Login StringDefinition; Set Login String; Set Login Return/Response String; Set PPPoptions; Set PPP Username; Set PPP Password; Set Email/LAN options.

Any Parameter setting command may also be used for retrieving theparameter to be set For example, upon receiving a “Get” parametersetting command, the camera may report status information. Some examplesof “Get” Parameter setting commands may include: Get Serial Number; GetTime, Get Camera Status; Get Camera Version.

In the case of the Parameter Setting Commands, in step S134, themicrocontroller 200 writes the specified parameter in the structureshown in FIG. 5, or reads the specified parameter therefrom and reportsit to the command originator.

Task Execution commands result in execution of the specified Task assoon as possible (in most cases, immediately). For example, some TaskExecution commands may include: Send JPEG image via port (210), Reset;Clear Memory; Send Output Trigger Signal; Record JPEG image; ResetTimer; Send Email report; Firmware Update.

In the case of Task Execution commands, in step S136, the cameraexecutes the task specified, using, e.g., the routines detailed in thedescribed embodiments herein, or when the manner of task execution isstraightforward or a single function, directly.

In the case of a command syntax error, the error is reported to thecommand originator and written in the reporting buffer in the mannerdescribed herein with respect to other errors.

In general, any function initiated via the buttons, triggers, timers, orevents as described herein, may also be directly initiated via anappropriate command received via the port 210. The camera 1 isresponsive to the commands received from dedicated or general-purposesoftware on an attached PC 216 that may receive data, command results,and images from the camera 1, and that transmits control data, commandsand images to the camera 1; or that may write or overwrite the firmwarein the NVRAM 242 (e.g., O/S, TCP/IP or other protocol stack, FTP orother file transfer application, card drivers, and other drivers andapplications).

Accordingly, using the command routines, a user may initiate anyoperation of the camera 1 via, e.g., internal commands, or externalcommands sent over the serial/IrDA port 210.

FIG. 17 shows a block diagram of a camera 1 according to a secondembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 17, the camera 1of the second embodiment of the invention utilizes the same fundamentaloperating core as the first embodiment, incorporating the featuresdescribed with reference to FIGS. 2-16. Accordingly, a description ofelements already described with reference to the first embodiment and toFIGS. 2-16 (i.e., those having the same reference numerals and/orsupporting the same or similar functions) is omitted.

The second embodiment of the present invention adds additional, moresophisticated features to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, thesecond embodiment is provided with a zoom lens system and autofocussystem. A zooming lens 210 is driven between different focal lengths bya zoom drive 260 incorporating a motor. A focusing lens 268 is driven tofocus an image on the image pickup 248 by a focus drive 262incorporating a motor. An aperture 266 is driven to restrict the amountof light impinging on the image pickup 248 by an aperture drive 264incorporating a motor. A strobe 274 is driven by a strobe drive 272.

The zoom drive 260, focus drive 262, aperture drive 264, and strobe 274are connected to and driven by the microcontroller 200, i.e., via one ormore GPIO pins as previously described. The strobe 274 and aperture 264are controlled (in step S32 of FIG. 8 along with the exposure) by themicrocontroller 200, according to the exposure information taken duringstep S32 of the capture routine of FIG. 8 (as previously described), toensure that the exposure of each image is proper. The focus drive 264 iscontrolled (in step S32 of FIG. 8 along with the exposure) via anautofocus value calculated by the microcontroller 248 according to theconventional method of contrast information, using the images takenduring step S32 of the capture routine. The button/switch input 214incorporates additional buttons to those described with respect to FIG.2 in order to zoom in, zoom out, and control the strobe 274.

Instead of the viewfinder 244, the camera 1′ of the second embodimentutilizes a detachable or integrated full video (LCD) display 218′.Accordingly, the display 218′ is a color or greyscale (video) LCD, andthe LCD controller 206 drives the display 218′ to show images formed onthe image pickup 248. In this manner, although the display 218′ may bemore expensive than the aforementioned multiline display 218, thedisplay 218 shows a more accurate representation of the scene at whichthe camera 1 is directed than the viewfinder, and a more accuratepreview of the image that will be captured.

In addition, the microcontroller 200 is linked to a motor controller 276(e.g., via one or more GPIO pins), which controls a 2-axis motorizedpan/tilt mount 278 to which the camera 1′ of the second embodiment ismounted. Accordingly, the camera 1 may control the pan/tilt mount 278 topoint itself in any direction.

In the second embodiment, in order that a pan/tilt setting, zoomsetting, and strobe setting may be separately implemented for each imageslot, each IMAGE FILES menu storage area, shown in FIG. 5, furtherincorporates a SPECIAL variable group, as shown in FIG. 18, in which apan position parameter, a tilt position parameter, a zooming positionparameter, and a strobe toggle may be set. In this case, as shown inFIG. 19, a step S31 (preceding step S32 of FIG. 8) is executed, in whichthe microcontroller 200 controls the zoom drive 260 and 2-axis pan/tiltmount 278 to direct the camera 1 in the direction specified in the panand tilt parameters, to zoom to an appropriate amount as specified inthe zooming position parameter, and to activate the strobe 274 accordingto the strobe (Y/N) toggle and exposure information. It should be notedthat the parameters in the SPECIAL variable group may be changed locallyvia the button/switch input 214 or serial/IrDA port 210, or remotely viathe autoconfigure process or setup file retrieval method as previouslydescribed. Accordingly, zooming, panning, and tilting may be locallychanged and remotely controlled, as can any of the remaining parameters.

FIG. 20 shows a block diagram of an Internet camera according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 20, the thirdembodiment of the invention utilizes the same fundamental operating coreas the first embodiment. Accordingly, a description of elements alreadydescribed with reference to the first embodiment and to FIGS. 2-16(i.e., those having the same reference numerals and/or supporting thesame or similar functions) is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 20, in the third embodiment of the invention, theviewfinder 244, image-forming optical system 245, image pickup 248,image pickup driver 252, and image pickup circuit 250 of the firstembodiment are omitted from the third embodiment, although all of theremaining components are housed together as in FIG. 2. In place of theomitted components, the third embodiment of the invention includes animage converter 222 that converts an NTSC or PAL signal to a luminance(Y) signal and two color difference signals (Cb—blue, Cr—red). The imageconverter 222 is connected to the microcontroller 200 and controlled bythe microcontroller 200 via the serial controller 238 and serial controlbus 240. One example of a suitable image convertor 222 is a BrooktreeBt829, available from Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, Inc., 4311Jamboree Road, Newport Beach, Calif., 92658.

The image converter 222 is connected to a conventional camcorder or CCTV110 that supplies an NTSC or PAL signal of the scene at which thecamcorder 110 is directed. It should be noted that the connection is notnecessarily to a camcorder or CCTV, but may be to any NTSC or PALsource, e.g., a VTR, television tuner, etc. Accordingly, the thirdembodiment of the invention avoids the use of a complicated setuprequiring a stand-alone personal computer.

Otherwise, the third embodiment of the invention operates substantiallyidentically to the manner in which the first embodiment operates,including the description relating to FIGS. 4-16.

FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of an Internet camera according to afourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 21, thefourth embodiment of the invention utilizes the same fundamentaloperating core as the first embodiment. Accordingly, a description ofelements already described with reference to the first embodiment and toFIGS. 2-16 (i.e., those having the same reference numerals and/orsupporting the same or similar functions) is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 21, in the fourth embodiment of the invention, theviewfinder 244, image-forming optical system 245, image pickup 248,image pickup driver 252, image pickup circuit 250, character generator254, color adjust circuit 256, display 218, display controller 206 ofthe first embodiment are omitted from the fourth embodiment, althoughall of the remaining components are housed together as in FIG. 2. Thefourth embodiment, by omitting parts that are only used in setup, andallowing initial setup via the PC, allows the integrated Internet camerato be produced more inexpensively.

The fourth embodiment of the invention uses a (e.g., laptop) personalcomputer PC 216 for initial setup, but thereafter may be controlled aspreviously described with respect to FIGS. 4-16. For example, the PC 216may incorporate a serial port/IrDA port 2161 for communicating with thecamera, an input 2162 (e.g., keyboard and/or mouse) for inputtingcommands via the PC 216 to the camera, a display 2164 for displaying theimages retrieved by the CCD 248 (output to the PC 216 via the serialport/IrDA port 210 of the camera) so that the camera may be properlyaimed and positioned, a memory 2163 for storing data (including imagedata), and I/O system for communicating between the operating system orapplications and the serial port/IrDA port 2161, and a setup applicationthat reads from and writes to the previously described parameter storagestructure (e.g., of FIG. 5) via the serial/IrDA port 210 it should benoted that the described PC 216, including the elements 2161-2166, maybe used with any of the first through third embodiments.

Otherwise, the fourth embodiment of the invention operates substantiallyidentically to the manner in which the first embodiment operates,including the description relating to FIGS. 4-16, excepting thosefeatures requiring components omitted in the fourth embodiment (e.g.,color adjustment, character generation, etc.).

FIG. 22 shows a block diagram of an Internet camera according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 22, the fifthembodiment of the invention utilizes the same fundamental operating coreas the first embodiment. Accordingly, a description of elements alreadydescribed with reference to the first embodiment and to FIGS. 2-16(i.e., those having the same reference numerals and/or supporting thesame or similar functions) is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 22, in the fifth embodiment of the invention, theviewfinder 244, character generator 254, color adjust circuit 256, anddisplay 218 of the first embodiment are omitted from the fifthembodiment, although all of the remaining components are housed togetheras in FIG. 2. Further, the fifth embodiment includes exchangeable lensesas well as additional features enabling industrial use, or use as partof an CCTV network, as described below. The fifth embodiment allows theintegrated Internet camera to be smoothly integrated into an unattendedand/or CCTV environment.

The fifth embodiment includes trouble-shooting LEDs 219 controlled bythe integrated microcontroller 200, which are used to indicate camerastatus, including power ON, errors, modem status, data transmissionstatus.

Any of several interchangeable lenses 271 may be connected to the cameravia a CS (standard CCTV) or bayonet mount 273. Accordingly, the cameramay be matched with a wide-angle (e.g., for interior surveillance) ortelephoto lens (for long-distance or outdoor surveillance).

The fifth embodiment also incorporates a NTSC/PAL to YCbCr converter222, similarly controlled to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 22 also shows aconnector 222 a, preferably a BNC connector, for connecting an externalvideo input source to the camera 1 (although RCA connectors may also beused to connect a YCrCb external video input source to the compressionengine 224, in which case the YCbCr conversion is unnecessary). Itshould be noted that the connection at connector 222 a is notnecessarily to a camcorder or CCTV, but may be to any NTSC or PALsource, e.g., a VTR, television tuner, etc.

However, in the fifth embodiment, the camera 1 also includes a built-inimaging apparatus (e.g., CCD 248 and associated parts), as describedwith respect to the first embodiment. Accordingly, the user may selectwhich of a camcorder/CCTV input, or internal video input, is to be usedas the image source. As shown in FIG. 22, in the fifth embodiment, theimage pickup circuit 250 is preferably connected directly to theNTSC/PAL to YCbCr converter 222. In this case, unlike the previousembodiments, the image pickup circuit preferably creates an NTSC or PALsignal directly from the CCD 248 output. The NTSC or PAL signal isconverted by the convertor 250. Alternatively, as shown by dashed linesin FIG. 22, the image pickup circuit 250 (without NTSC or PALconversion) may be connected via an A/D convertor 246 to the compressionengine 224, similarly to the first embodiment.

An Internal/External video switch 214 g is provided to the button/switchinput 214. The switch 214 g is monitored by the integratedmicrocontroller 200, and the appropriate video source may selectedaccording to the status of the switch 214 g, or determined by settingsin, e.g., the MISC OPTION: HARDWARE SETTINGS variable group. When thevideo input 222 a is connected at a video output of a CCTV monitorstation cycling through various cameras at fixed intervals, the fifthembodiment of an integrated Internet camera may be scheduled to followthe cycling, and may send images from a variety of daughter CCTV camerason the CCTV network via the network interface device 236.

Also provided to the button/switch input 214 are the release switch 214e, which initiates an immediate image capture and/or upload aspreviously described, as well as a reset button 214 f, which initiates asoft reset operation as previously described, and/or a hard reset orreboot.

The fifth embodiment further includes an NTSC/PAL converter 223 andoutput 223 a (having a BNC or other coaxial connector). Video or imagesfrom the camcorder/CCTV 110 or CCD 248 (optionally via the image memory220) is routed to the output 223 a. When a television or CCTV network217 is connected to the output 223 a, the same images as those sent viathe network interface device 235 may be monitored locally or at a CCTVnetwork monitor station. The NTSC/PAL converter 223 may be separatelyprovided, or incorporated in an LCD/VIDEO controller 206 a substantiallysimilar to the LCD controller 206 previously described, but withNTSC/PAL output capabilities. It should also be noted that the inputconnector 222 a is optionally routed directly to output connector 223 a,in which case no conversion is necessary.

The fifth embodiment also incorporates at least two input trigger ports211 a and one output trigger port 211 b, which are controlled similarlyto the trigger inputs 211 and/or GPIO pins 219 previously described, andmay be connected to triggering devices (e.g., motion sensors) and totriggerable devices (e.g., lighting, alarm). Local lighting or alarmsmay be controlled via the data exchange mechanisms previously described,e.g., triggering of a sensor, monitored via a trigger port 211 a,initiates a call-out and interval pickup of new settings, which can setoff lighting or an alarm via the output trigger port 211 b, controlbeing carried out in a manner similar to that previously described. Thetrigger inputs and outputs may also be managed independently—e.g., locallighting can be linked to interval-scheduled image captures, andactivated to accompany the image captures. Input and output triggeringconditions, status, and linked events are stored in the REPORTINGmenu/storage area in a TRIGGERS variable group (not shown). Triggeringor triggered events may be reported along with the other informationappended to the reporting buffer as previously described.

The fifth embodiment of the invention uses a (e.g., laptop) personalcomputer PC 216 for initial setup, but thereafter may be controlled aspreviously described with respect to FIGS. 4-16. For example, the PC 216a is similarly equipped to the fourth embodiment, but also incorporatesa standard RS232C serial interface 2165 (a USB interface or IEEE 1394interface may be used for the same purpose, as well as for imagetransfer). The serial interface 2165 communicates with the camera in themanner described in the fourth embodiment. It should be noted that thedescribed PC 216 a, including the elements described in the fifthembodiment and the RS232C serial interface 2165, may be used with any ofthe first through fifth embodiments.

Otherwise, the fifth embodiment of the invention operates substantiallyidentically to the manner in which the first and fourth embodimentsoperate, including the description relating to FIGS. 4-21, exceptingthose features requiring components omitted in the fifth embodiment(e.g., color adjustment, character generation, etc.). However, it shouldbe noted that the features of the first through fourth embodiments maybe combined with those of the fifth embodiment.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the invention is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for e.g., Internet transmission (e.g.,TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, PPP, FTP, SMTP, MIME); peripheral control (IrDA;RS232C; USB; ISA; ExCA; PCMCIA), public telephone networks (ISDN, ATM,XDSL); and video and compression (NTSC, PAL, JPEG, TIFF, GIF) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

Accordingly, since the integrated Internet camera according to theinvention itself incorporates all the necessary components to capturedigital images, make a connection to the Internet, and place the imagesanywhere on the Internet, the camera 1 may be easily and inexpensivelyused in entertainment, advertising, education, security, trafficmonitoring, weather monitoring, child care monitoring, surveillance, andgeneral consumer applications.

Although the above description sets forth particular embodiments of thepresent invention, modifications of the invention will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and it is intended that the scopeof the invention be determined solely by the appended claims.

1. A standalone device connectible to a CCTV network, comprising: ananalog video input connector that collects input image signalscorresponding to views from outside the standalone device; a compressioncircuit that outputs digital image signal data corresponding to theinput image signals; a plurality of input/output terminals, forming aphysical interface for at least one alarm trigger input; a networkconnection capable of connecting to an internet-protocol network; amicrocontroller operatively connected to the analog video inputconnector, the compression circuit, the input/output terminals, and thenetwork connection; a transport control protocol that packetizes thedigital image signal data and controls addressing of the packetizeddigital image signal data for the internet-protocol network; an addresssetting routine executable by the microcontroller, that sets aninternet-protocol address for the standalone device itself, permittingconnection to the internet-protocol network; a self-initiatingtransmission initiating routine that self-initiates a connection withthe internet-protocol network via said transport control protocol andsaid network connection in response to a triggering signal on said atleast one alarm trigger input; an E-mail message assembling routineexecutable by the microcontroller that assembles E-mail messagesincluding report information related to the triggering signal anddigital image signal data corresponding to the views from outside thestandalone device; and an E-mail transmission routine executable by themicrocontroller that transmits the assembled E-mail messages to anE-mail address via the transport control protocol, the networkconnection, and the internet-protocol network.
 2. The standalone deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a serial interface, separatefrom said network connection, that receives commands for controlling thestandalone device.
 3. The standalone device according to claim 1,further comprising at least one alarm trigger output connectible to atriggered device.
 4. The standalone device according to claim 3, whereinthe triggered device includes one of an alarm or local lighting.
 5. Thestandalone device according to claim 1, further comprising: at least onetimer; and a timer-based image capture routine, executable by saidmicrocontroller, for capturing images according to said timer; saidE-mail message assembling routine assembling E-mail messages includingboth digital image signal data taken at the time of said triggeringsignal on said at least one alarm trigger input and digital image signaldata taken according to said timer, and the E-mail transmission routinetransmitting the E-mail messages to an E-mail address.
 6. The standalonedevice according to claim 1, further comprising: a configuration settingroutine executable by said microcontroller that sets configurationinformation including operational parameters of said standalone devicevia a serial interface from a connected setup device, the configurationinformation being recoverable via a password key.
 7. The standalonedevice according to claim 1, wherein the address setting routineoperates via said network connection to obtain an internet-protocoladdress for the standalone device itself from a device capable ofassigning such addresses.
 8. The standalone device according to claim 7,wherein the device capable of assigning such addresses includes a DNSdevice.
 9. The standalone device according to claim 1, wherein inresponse to an alarm condition, notification of the alarm condition issent to a defined list of e-mail recipients to alert the e-mailrecipients of the alarm condition.
 10. The standalone device accordingto claim 1, wherein in response to an alarm condition, images aretransmitted to a remote user to notify the remote user of the alarmcondition.
 11. The standalone device according to claim 1, wherein inresponse to an alarm condition, images are transmitted to and stored ona network device other than said standalone device.
 12. The standalonedevice according to claim 1, wherein in response to an alarm condition,selected images are associated with selected reports includinginformation related to the alarm condition, and stored by saidstandalone device.
 13. The standalone device according to claim 1,further comprising a streaming routine executable by saidmicrocontroller for continuous capture and transmission of compresseddigital image signal data as streaming data, the microcontrollertransferring the streaming data from the standalone device to theinternet-protocol network.
 14. The standalone device according to claim1, further comprising a character generator for generating textualinformation overlaying said digital image signal data.
 15. Thestandalone device according to claim 1, wherein the network connectionis selected from one of a modem for public telephone networks; anEthernet adapter for connecting to an Ethernet LAN; an ISDN modem; anxDSL adapter; a cable modem; an ATM adapter; a T carrier terminaladapter; an adapter for satellite connection; an adapter for microwaveconnection; an adapter for wireless connection; an adapter for serialtransmission over a high speed external serial bus; or an adapter fordata transmission over public power lines.
 16. The standalone deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the network connection is not built-in tocircuitry of the standalone device.
 17. The standalone device accordingto claim 16, wherein the network connection is a network interfacedevice that is installed in a slot interface of the standalone devicecircuitry.
 18. The standalone device according to claim 1, wherein saidself-initiating transmission initiating routine initiates a connectionin response to a triggering signal from one of a motion sensor or tripswitch.
 19. The standalone device according to claim 1, furthercomprising an analog output connector that transmits an output videosignal outside the standalone device, wherein the microcontroller iscapable of (i) transferring the digital image signal data to theinternet-protocol network via the network connection and of (ii)transmitting an analog video signal, corresponding to the views fromoutside the standalone device, via the analog output connector.
 20. Thestandalone device according to claim 1, further comprising: aconfiguration routine executable by said microcontroller that retrievesconfiguration information from the internet protocol network; and aconfiguration setting routine executable by said microcontroller thatsets operational parameters of the standalone device according to theretrieved configuration information.
 21. The standalone device accordingto claim 1, wherein the analog video input connector collects an inputimage signal corresponding to the view of a camera connected to thestandalone device, and wherein said standalone device receivesconfiguration information containing pan/tilt parameters for the camera,and said microcontroller initiates panning and/or tilting directing thecamera according to the received pan/tilt parameters.
 22. The standalonedevice according to claim 1, further comprising a network authenticationroutine executable by said microcontroller for providing network loginauthentication to the internet-protocol network.
 23. The standalonedevice according to claim 1, further comprising a password enablingroutine executable by the microcontroller, that configures saidstandalone device to register on a local network via said networkconnection, in a first mode providing a password in order to register ona local network and in a second mode registering on a local networkwithout providing a password.
 24. The standalone device according toclaim 1, further comprising a protocol switching routine executable bythe microcontroller, that selectively switches from the transmissioncontrol protocol to a connectionless protocol, wherein themicrocontroller transfers the digital image signal data to the internetprotocol network employing the connectionless protocol.
 25. Thestandalone device according to claim 24, wherein the connectionlessprotocol is UDP.
 26. The standalone device according to claim 1, furthercomprising a file transfer application executable by saidmicrocontroller, wherein the file transfer application transfers thedigital image signal data, corresponding to the views from outside thestandalone device, to a network device capable of serving files via thenetwork connection, the internet-protocol network and aninternet-protocol address.
 27. The standalone device according to claim1, wherein the report information related to the triggering signalincludes status information for the standalone device.
 28. A standalonedevice connectible to a CCTV network, comprising: an analog video inputconnector that collects input image signals corresponding to views fromoutside the standalone device; a compression circuit that outputsdigital image signal data corresponding to the input image signals; aplurality of input/output terminals, forming a physical interface for atleast one alarm trigger input; a network connection capable ofconnecting to an internet-protocol network; a microcontrolleroperatively connected to the analog video input connector, thecompression circuit, the input/output terminals, and the networkconnection; an address setting routine executable by themicrocontroller, that sets an internet-protocol address for thestandalone device itself, permitting connection to the internet-protocolnetwork; a transport control protocol that packetizes the digital imagesignal data and controls addressing of the packetized digital imagessignal data for the internet-protocol network; a self-initiatingtransmission initiating routine executable by the microcontroller thatself-initiates a connection with the internet-protocol network via saidtransport control protocol and said network connection in response to adetected signal; a protocol switching routine executable by themicrocontroller, that selectively switches from the transmission controlprotocol to a transmission protocol that does not retransmit erroneousdata; and a streaming routine executable by said microcontroller forcontinuous capture and transmission of digital image signal data asstreaming data, the microcontroller transferring the streaming data fromthe internet protocol address of the standalone device itself to theinternet-protocol network upon receipt of a triggering signal on at theleast one alarm trigger input, and the microcontroller transfers thedigital image signal data to the internet protocol network employing theprotocol that does not retransmit erroneous data.
 29. The standalonedevice according to claim 28, wherein the protocol that does notretransmit data is UDP.
 30. The standalone device according to claim 28,said detected signal comprising one of an event signal, a timerexpiration signal, or a command signal.
 31. The standalone deviceaccording to claim 28, further comprising a serial interface, separatefrom said network connection, that receives commands for controlling thestandalone device.
 32. The standalone device according to claim 28,further comprising at least one alarm trigger output connectible to atriggered device.
 33. The standalone device according to claim 32,wherein the triggered device includes one of an alarm or local lighting.34. The standalone device according to claim 28, further comprising: aconfiguration setting routine executable by said microcontroller thatsets configuration information including operational parameters of saidstandalone device via a serial interface from a connected setup device,the configuration information being recoverable via a password key. 35.The standalone device according to claim 28, wherein the address settingroutine operates via said network connection to obtain aninternet-protocol address for the standalone device itself from a devicecapable of assigning such addresses.
 36. The standalone device accordingto claim 35, wherein the device capable of assigning such addressesincludes a DNS device.
 37. The standalone device according to claim 28,wherein said triggering signal is an alarm signal, and in response tothe alarm signal, images are transmitted to a remote user to notify theremote user of the alarm condition.
 38. The standalone device accordingto claim 28, wherein said triggering signal is an alarm signal, whereinin response to the alarm signal, images are transmitted to and stored ona network device other than said standalone device.
 39. The standalonedevice according to claim 28, wherein said triggering signal is an alarmsignal, and wherein in response to the alarm signal, selected images areassociated with selected reports including information related to thealarm signal, and stored by said standalone device.
 40. The standalonedevice according to claim 28, said standalone device further comprisinga character generator for generating textual information overlaying saiddigital image signal data.
 41. The standalone device according to claim28, wherein the network connection is selected from one of a modem forpublic telephone networks; an Ethernet adapter for connecting to anEthernet LAN; an ISDN modem; an xDSL adapter; a cable modem; an ATMadapter; a T carrier terminal adapter; an adapter for satelliteconnection; an adapter for microwave connection; an adapter for wirelessconnection; an adapter for serial transmission over a high speedexternal serial bus; or an adapter for data transmission over publicpower lines.
 42. The standalone device according to claim 28, whereinthe network connection is not built-in to circuitry of the standalonedevice.
 43. The standalone device according to claim 42, wherein thenetwork connection is a network interface device that is installed in aslot interface of the standalone device circuitry.
 44. The standalonedevice according to claim 28, wherein said self-initiating transmissioninitiating routine initiates a connection in response to a detectedsignal from one of a motion sensor or trip switch.
 45. The standalonedevice according to claim 28, further comprising an analog outputconnector that transmits an output video signal outside the standalonedevice, wherein the microcontroller is capable of (i) transferring thedigital image signal data to the internet-protocol network via thenetwork connection and (ii) transmitting an analog video signal,corresponding to the views from outside the standalone device, via theanalog output connector.
 46. The standalone device according to claim28, further comprising: a configuration routine executable by saidmicrocontroller that retrieves configuration information from theinternet protocol network; and a configuration setting routineexecutable by said microcontroller that sets operational parameters ofthe standalone device according to the retrieved configurationinformation.
 47. The standalone device according to claim 46, whereinthe analog video input connector collects an input image signalcorresponding to the view of a camera connected to the standalonedevice, and wherein said standalone device receives configurationinformation containing pan/tilt parameters for the camera, and saidmicrocontroller initiates panning and/or tilting directing the cameraaccording to the received pan/tilt parameters.
 48. The standalone deviceaccording to claim 28, further comprising a network authenticationroutine executable by said microcontroller for providing network loginauthentication to the internet-protocol network.
 49. The standalonedevice according to claim 28, further comprising a password enablingroutine executable by the microcontroller, that configures saidstandalone device to register on a local network via said networkconnection, in a first mode providing a password in order to register ona local network and in a second mode registering on a local networkwithout providing a password.
 50. The standalone device according toclaim 28, further comprising a file transfer application executable bysaid microcontroller, wherein the file transfer application transfersthe digital image signal data, corresponding to the views from outsidethe standalone device, to a network device capable of serving files viathe network connection, the internet-protocol network and aninternet-protocol address.
 51. The standalone device according to claim28, further comprising an E-mail message assembling routine executableby the microcontroller that assembles E-mail messages including digitalimage signal data corresponding to the views from outside the standalonedevice; and an E-mail transmission routine executable by themicrocontroller that transmits the assembled E-mail messages to anE-mail address via the transport control protocol, the networkconnection, and the internet-protocol network.
 52. The standalone deviceaccording to claim 51, wherein said E-mail message assembling routinefurther assembles E-mail messages including report information relatedto the detected event, the report information related to the detectedevent including status information for the standalone device.
 53. Thestandalone device according to claim 51, further comprising: at leastone timer; a timer-based image capture routine, executable by saidmicrocontroller, that captures images according to said timer, saidE-mail message assembling routine assembling E-mail messages includingboth digital image signal data taken at the time of said triggeringsignal on the at least one alarm trigger input and digital image signaldata taken according to the timer, and the E-mail transmission routinetransmitting said E-mail messages to the E-mail address.
 54. Thestandalone device according to claim 51, wherein in response to thedetected signal, notification of the detected signal is sent to at leastone defined e-mail recipient to alert the e-mail recipient of thedetected signal.
 55. A standalone device connectible to a CCTV network,comprising: an analog video input connector that collects input imagesignals corresponding to views from outside the standalone device; acompression circuit that outputs digital image signal data correspondingto the input image signals; a network connection capable of connectingto an internet-protocol network; a microcontroller operatively connectedto the analog video input connector, the compression circuit, and thenetwork connection; a trigger-based image capture routine, executable bysaid microcontroller, that records digital image signal data of saidinput image signals according to a triggering signal on at least onealarm trigger input; a timer-based image capture routine, executable bysaid microcontroller, that records digital image signal data of saidinput image signals according to a timer; a transport control protocolthat packetizes the digital image signal data and controls addressing ofthe packetized digital images signal data for the internet-protocolnetwork; an address setting routine executable by the microcontroller,that sets an internet-protocol address for the standalone device itself,permitting connection to the internet-protocol network; aself-initiating transmission initiating routine that self-initiates aconnection with the internet-protocol network via said transport controlprotocol and said network connection in response to the triggeringsignal; an E-mail message assembling routine executable by themicrocontroller that assembles E-mail messages including digital imagesignal data taken at the time of said triggering signal and digitalimage signal data taken according to said timer, and an E-mailtransmission routine executable by the microcontroller that transmitsthe assembled E-mail messages to an E-mail address via the transportcontrol protocol, the network connection, and the internet-protocolnetwork.
 56. The standalone device according to claim 55, furthercomprising a serial interface, separate from said network connection,that receives commands for controlling the standalone device.
 57. Thestandalone device according to claim 55, further comprising at least onealarm trigger output connectible to a triggered device.
 58. Thestandalone device according to claim 57, wherein the triggered deviceincludes one of an alarm or local lighting.
 59. The standalone deviceaccording to claim 55, further comprising: a configuration settingroutine executable by said microcontroller that sets configurationinformation including operational parameters of said standalone devicevia a serial interface from a connected setup device, the configurationinformation being recoverable via a password key.
 60. The standalonedevice according to claim 55, wherein the address setting routineoperates via said network connection to obtain an internet-protocoladdress for the standalone device itself from a device capable ofassigning such addresses.
 61. The standalone device according to claim60, wherein the device capable of assigning such addresses includes aDNS device.
 62. The standalone device according to claim 55, wherein thedetected signal is an alarm signal, wherein in response to the alarmsignal, images are transmitted to a remote user to notify the remoteuser of the alarm signal.
 63. The standalone device according to claim55, wherein said detected signal is an alarm signal, wherein in responseto the alarm signal, images are transmitted to and stored on a networkdevice other than said standalone device.
 64. The standalone deviceaccording to claim 55, wherein said triggering signal is an alarmsignal, wherein in response to the alarm signal, selected images areassociated with selected reports including information related to thealarm signal, and stored by said standalone device.
 65. The standalonedevice according to claim 55, said standalone device further comprisinga character generator for generating textual information overlaying saiddigital image signal data.
 66. The standalone device according to claim55, wherein the network connection is selected from one of a modem forpublic telephone networks; an Ethernet adapter for connecting to anEthernet LAN; an ISDN modem; an xDSL adapter; a cable modem; an ATMadapter; a T carrier terminal adapter; an adapter for satelliteconnection; an adapter for microwave connection; an adapter for wirelessconnection; an adapter for serial transmission over a high speedexternal serial bus; or an adapter for data transmission over publicpower lines.
 67. The standalone device according to claim 55, whereinthe network connection is not built-in to circuitry of the standalonedevice.
 68. The standalone device according to claim 67, wherein thenetwork connection is a connection of a network interface device that isinstalled in a slot interface of the standalone device circuitry. 69.The standalone device according to claim 55, wherein saidself-initiating transmission initiating routine initiates a connectionin response to a detected signal from one of a motion sensor or tripswitch.
 70. The standalone device according to claim 55, furthercomprising an analog output connector that transmits an output videosignal outside the standalone device, wherein the microcontroller iscapable of (i) transferring the digital image signal data to theinternet-protocol network via the network connection and (ii)transmitting an analog video signal, corresponding to the views fromoutside the standalone device, via the analog output connector.
 71. Thestandalone device according to claim 55, further comprising: aconfiguration routine executable by said microcontroller that retrievesconfiguration information from the internet protocol network; and aconfiguration setting routine executable by said microcontroller thatsets operational parameters of the standalone device according to theretrieved configuration information.
 72. The standalone device accordingto claim 55, wherein the analog video input connector collects an inputimage signal corresponding to the view of a camera connected to thestandalone device, and wherein said standalone device receivesconfiguration information containing pan/tilt parameters for the camera,and said microcontroller initiates panning and/or tilting directing thecamera according to the received pan/tilt parameters.
 73. The standalonedevice according to claim 55, further comprising a networkauthentication routine executable by said microcontroller for providingnetwork login authentication to the internet-protocol network.
 74. Thestandalone device according to claim 73, further comprising a passwordenabling routine executable by the microcontroller, that configures saidstandalone device to register on a local network via said networkconnection, in a first mode providing a password in order to register ona local network and in a second mode registering on a local networkwithout providing a password.
 75. The standalone device according toclaim 55, further comprising a file transfer application executable bysaid microcontroller, wherein the file transfer application transfersthe digital image signal data, corresponding to the views from outsidethe standalone device, to a network device capable of serving files viathe network connection, the internet-protocol network and aninternet-protocol address.
 76. The standalone device according to claim55, wherein said E-mail message assembling routine further assemblesE-mail messages including report information related to the triggeringsignal, the report information related to the triggering signalincluding status information for the standalone device.
 77. Thestandalone device according to claim 55, wherein the triggering signalis an alarm signal, and in response to the triggering signal,notification of the alarm signal is sent to a defined list of e-mailrecipients to alert the e-mail recipients of the alarm signal.